The Ordnance Survey started life in Britain in the late eighteenth century, and its original purpose was military in nature. It traces its origins to 1746 when King George II commissioned a military survey of the Scottish highlands. Almost fifty years later, the Board of Ordnance (the defense ministry at the time) began a survey of England's southern coasts, which were vulnerable to attack from...

Renowned geographer Nicholas Crane and the UK branch of the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) have teamed up to create this engaging story map about the geological history of Great Britain. Crane is an award winning writer and documentarian and currently serves as the president of the Royal Geographical Society; ESRI is an international company that creates GIS software. This story...