Kent's role in first Ordnance Survey map marked

The first Ordnance Survey map, which covered Kent and became a blueprint for modern mapping, is being celebrated 225 years after its publication.

Published in 1801, the map was produced over fears of a Napoleonic invasion along the south coast.

Surveyors spent more than a decade measuring the landscape, and tackling bogs and marshland while using pioneering techniques and detailed field observations to create a comprehensive map of the county.

Today, Ordnance Survey uses aircraft, satellites, GPS and digital technologies to keep Britain's maps up to date. The organisation says an area that once took years to map can now be surveyed in about 10 days.

Air camera operator Phil Nangle said technology had transformed the process.

Nangle says the Ordnance Survey aircraft is equipped with a 450-megapixel camera, adding: "To put it into context, my phone in my pocket is 12 megapixels, so it's huge in comparison.

"We take lots of photos and kind of mosaic them together to create one big image, and then it goes on the map that you see today."

He added: "From that imagery, we can actually extract features such as buildings, roads, railways, infrastructure."

Tina Kennedy, Ordnance Survey's chief customer officer, says: "Amazingly, all these years later, 225 years later, it's startling how accurate that map actually still is today," she said.

"It's interesting that that kind of obsessional detail and accuracy continues in our DNA today, just in a slightly different way."

While the first map was created primarily for military use, Ordnance Survey says its data is now used across a range of sectors including infrastructure planning, emergency response and economic growth.

The organisation says the average person comes into contact with its data 42 times a day, often without realising it.

"Everything from getting that parcel delivered, planning applications, buying a house, all of the blue lights of the ambulance service, police, etc. All of that is using our data," Kennedy said.

Ordnance Survey was closely linked to the military when it was established in 1791 and Royal Engineer officers led many of the early surveys.

On Wednesday, Ordnance Survey is marking the anniversary at the Royal Engineers Museum in Gillingham, where experts will speak about the past, present and future of mapping.

Historic surveying equipment will also be on display.

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