SWX1263 - Object Name Book, Ordnance Survey

The Ordnance Survey Name Books are records of the fieldwork done by Royal Engineers surveyors and civilian assistants as a basis for First Edition Six Inch maps and subsequent maps. Alongside the technical surveying, they collected a rich array of information about places and place-names from local informants, and this is recorded in the Name Books in tabular form. Name Books from the mid 19th century survive for most of Scotland and Ireland, but for only the four northernmost historic counties of England (Cumberland, Westmorland, Northumberland and Durham), together with part of Hampshire. The books covering the rest of England and Wales were destroyed by a bombing raid on Southampton in 1940, though later updates survive for other counties.