The UKHO Archive
An overview of the Archive, accessing the Archive, and how to order copies of Archive material
The UKHO Archive represents one of the most complete maritime collections of its type in the world. Below is an overview of how to access the archive and how to order copies of archive material.
About the Archive
The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) was founded in 1795 by an order in council under the auspices of King George the Third. Its first Hydrographer was Alexander Dalrymple F.R.S. who was based in the Admiralty in London.
Today, situated in Taunton, Somerset, the UKHO Archive contains hundreds of thousands of hydrographic and navigational documents, some dating from the 17th century. Some of our treasured items include a chart of Portsmouth UK from the 1620s, the first government sponsored hydrographic survey of Great Britain, surveys by Captain James Cook and records relating to HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin.
Archive contents
Descriptions of archive material can be searched in our online catalogue
Descriptions of archive material can also be searched in the collections survey document. The collections survey document is a high level description of the types of data and records in the archive.
Download the collections survey document:
The Archive team will be happy to help with any questions on materials which have not yet been catalogued or with further historical information. Descriptions are also available on the National Archives Discovery catalogue. More descriptions will be added to Discovery over time.
Historical holdings and the UKHO archive
We receive a wide range of data from all corners of the world and were established as a Place of Deposit in 1962 (under the Public Records Act of 1958). This allows us to hold and maintain our own historical archive on site.
Surveys
Today we receive about 400 hydrographic surveys a year, in various forms, including those by the Royal Navy Surveying Squadron, contract survey companies and other contractors and developers. Though the quality of these surveys varies, all are registered and copied before being evaluated by the relevant chart branch, then placed in the archive with their accompanying field data.
The UKHO has been collecting surveys since 1795 and we hold an estimated 60,000 sheets, mainly executed by the Royal Navy. Many have been published in their entirety, or included in part, in printed Admiralty charts. We predominantly hold survey information from 1830 to the present. Some surveys dated before 1830 have been transferred to The National Archives.
For those surveys not listed on the Discovery website - UKHO Archives material held on TNA Discovery - please email research@ukho.gov.uk and request finding aids to be sent as digital copies, gratis. Please state geographical areas/positions, dates and type of data interested in (e.g. depths, wrecks, trigonometrical etc.). Our survey index finding aids are split into three different eras: pre-1930, 1930-1979 and 1980-2008. For modern survey data, please see the ADMIRALTY Marine Data Portal.
Record copies of Admiralty charts
Record copies of published Admiralty charts, produced since 1800, are an important part of the archive. However, we do not have a copy of every chart ever published by the Hydrographic Office, but we do have the most complete collection in the United Kingdom. We do not have a copy of every correction to every chart, but it is possible to follow the history of most charts from the 1830s to the present day.
Our record copies are arranged by chart number. This collection is known as the ‘old copy bundle’ system. There is no single catalogue of its contents, but access to the charts can be made through the published catalogues of charts. The earliest catalogue we hold dates from 1825 and electronic versions of catalogues can be accessed via the links below. For those accessible via the UKHO/TNA Legacy website, once you have clicked on the link in the table below, click on the ‘Archive Contents’ tab, scroll down to ‘Record copies of Admiralty charts’ and click on the year you require to view.
Table of Online Chart Catalogues
For Admiralty Chart Catalogues not found via the methods above, please email research@ukho.gov.uk, mentioning the year(s) of catalogue that would be useful for your research. If these are available in the Repository, then we will make these available as digital copies, gratis.
Also available to download below is ‘Listing of Admiralty Chart Series held in the UKHO Archive “Old Copy Bundle” Series, 1800-2016’:
Images of many Admiralty charts are searchable online. Type keywords such as ‘Admiralty Chart [add number]’ into Google and other search engines. This will give you an indication of the geographical area of a chart, its level of detail and colours. If you then wish to know exactly the version you would be purchasing from UKHO, please contact us and we can provide specific previews (charged accordingly, as per specialist research fee in Price Table A).
During World War One a great number of special charts were produced to support the war effort. At the end of the war a report was produced outlining all of the special charts produced from 1914 to 1918. This useful report is available in pdf format on request. Please ask for a copy of the ‘World War One Technical History’.
Coastal views
A view of the coast from the sea was an essential aid to navigation. Subsequently the Hydrographic Office accumulated many hundreds of views, some of them appeared in engraved form on the face of Admiralty Charts and in Admiralty Sailing Directions. A large collection of 18th, 19th and early 20th century coastal views, covering most areas of the world, are now deposited at The National Archives at Kew (TNA series ADM 344). An additional 20,000 uncatalogued views from the 19th and 20th centuries are still held in Taunton.
Correspondence, ships’ reports, minutes and data
To support the use of surveys and production of charts the Hydrographic Office has retained a number of letters (from 1815), minutes (from 1825) and supporting data. These were catalogued by Lt-Cdr A.C.F. David and issued as ‘A provisional catalogue of logs, journals, documents, letters, record copies of books and pamphlets published by the Hydrographic Department and held in its archives at the Hydrographic Department, Ministry of Defence, Taunton, Somerset’ in 1974. An unrevised electronic version of this catalogue can be obtained on request.
Notices to mariners, lights lists and tide tables
We hold a complete run of printed Notices to Mariners from 1834, Lights Lists from 1827 and Tide Tables from 1833. We also hold some correspondence and records concerning these publications but they are not in one discrete series and it can involve a lengthy search to identify them.
Admiralty charts of Scottish waters
Admiralty charts of Scottish waters, 1795-1963 are now online at the National Library of Scotland.
Research
Please direct records enquiries to research@ukho.gov.uk. We aim to respond to all enquiries within ten working days, but this may take longer during busy periods.
If it is not feasible for you to visit our Archive in Taunton, there is the option to either conduct your own research remotely or opt for paid research by the UKHO Archive. Finding aids to conduct research can be found in the sections above, detailing the different types of documents available.
Specialist research by the archive research service, is at a charge of £20 for each 15 minutes spent working on your request. If you require this service, we will provide you with an estimated number of hours, which will require payment in advance. No work will be undertaken until the payment has been received.
Alternatively, researchers can employ their own record agent to come in and undertake the work they require. A list of specialist record agents is available on request. The UKHO does not endorse the work of any persons whose details are on this list.
For closed or classified records subject to Freedom of Information (FOI), we can provide up to 4 hours research without any charge. Charges apply for obtaining reproduction copies within a FOI request.
Please note, the changes to this service, including pricing, occurred in May 2021. For full details, please download the Price Review document below:
Obtaining copies of archive material
Our Archive houses a high quality studio camera and lighting system, which allows us to make reproduction copies of our historic documents without damaging them. Reproduction copies can then be provided as printed copies or as digital images. Please see the tables below for all of our product/service costs. Please remember to add to your estimate:
- administration/handling charge (£15 per order)
- postage and packing (minimum of £3 per order)
- VAT at the current rate (if applicable)
We aim to despatch hard copy prints or digital copies of archive material within ten working days once payment has been received, but please note that large orders of five or more documents may take longer to despatch. Digital copies of archive material will be sent using WeTransfer. The priority fee cannot be applied to requests for hard copy prints, or to requests for copies of documents that have not yet been digitised.
Please be aware that high quality colourfast prints are supplied on a satin (glossy) paper and unfortunately cannot be printed on standard matt chart paper.
When documents are digitally scanned, the colours do not always appear as per the original. Therefore, digital copies are supplied with a colour and scale bar alongside to enable customers to calibrate colours and correctly scale each image to the original size for printing. Customers requiring colour correction and/or re-sizing to be applied for them will incur a charge of £15 per image.
The sizes in the table below are based on the size of document to be copied (copies are not reduced unless asked for). We are able to provide A4 and A3 colour and black and white photocopies of original documents no larger than A3 size. Any requirement for an original document larger than A3 to be reduced, will need to be scanned, costing a minimum of £25 plus VAT. For documents larger than A0, an estimate will be provided by Research staff. These documents may also require digital stitching together; this service costs an additional £80 per hour. The reproduction will be supplied in parts unless stitching is requested.
We offer a priority service for digital documents that are to be supplied in digital softcopy format via WeTransfer, without colour correction. The £40 price is per order, in addition to the product and admin prices and is without VAT. Payment bust be received by PayPal.
Preview images can be included within the specialist research fee. These will be low resolution photographs, taken using a camera or tablet, for preview purposes only. The specialist research fee also applies if you need help finding a chart number/version/NM corrected state researched for a particular incident date.
Price Table A - Service/product price list (from May 2021)
| Service | Price (£) | Details |
|---|---|---|
| General fees | ||
| Specialist research, on behalf of the enquirer, charged at the hourly rate. This is a Content check to find document(s) which may be relevant to your enquiry and discover if the information you require is contained within these document(s) | £80 per hour | Please note: Some complex research may not be able to be undertaken by UKHO staff - researchers may need to visit to conduct their own research. Preview images can be included within this Research fee. These will be low resolution photographs, taken using a camera or tablet, for preview purposes only |
| Administration/handling fee | £15 per order | Includes invoicing and processing paid orders on behalf of the customer |
| Certified authentication of a reproduced document | £19.80 | A member of staff will check the copy against the original and sign and stamp the copy to confirm it is a true copy of the original. If you request a digital copy it will come with a signed electronic certificate |
| VAT | 20% of total price | Only applicable to orders placed in the UK. Embassies and Royal Navy vessels are exempt |
| Books, letters and files | ||
| Providing a Document check, where reference number is known, for a quote for digitising up to 3 separate documents (up to 100 pages), e.g. a volume, a file | £10 for up to 3 documents | This charge covers a member of staff reviewing the status of the original document, to assess if the information can be located, identify the cost and also its suitability for copying. Includes page count. Customers are not charged for any Conservation work that needs to be undertaken on a document that is to be reproduced. We will contact you when a document is ready. We reserve the right to not allow digitisation to be undertaken if the process will cause an original document to potentially get damaged |
| Book/document scanning per page/opening/spread (up to foolscap size) | £15 for 1-15 pages/openings and every batch of 15 pages/openings thereafter | This includes the scanning using our overhead camera system, plus basic post-processing |
| Charts and surveys - held digitally at UKHO Archive | ||
| Full resolution chart image (up to A0 size) | £25 (£15 colour correction, where applicable) | See Price Table B below for full price list of various sizes and formats. Preview images not supplied within this price - see Research fee |
| Research fee (see main entry above) applies if you need help finding a chart number/version/NM corrected state researched for a particular incident date | This includes a preview image. (See main entry above) | |
| Charts and surveys - non-digital/analogue | ||
| Providing a document check, where reference number is known, for a quote for digitising up to 3 separate charts or surveys | £10 for up to 3 charts/surveys | This charge covers a member of staff reviewing the status of the original document, to assess if the information can be located, identify the cost and also its suitability for copying. Customers are not charged for any Conservation work that needs to be undertaken on a document that is to be reproduced. We will contact you when a document is ready. We reserve the right to not allow digitisation to be undertaken if the process will cause an original document to potentially get damaged |
| 300dpi resolution chart image (up to A0 size). If a higher resolution (up to 1000dpi) is required, please ask | £25 (+£15 colour correction, where applicable) | See Price Table B below for full price list of various sizes and formats. Preview images not supplied within this price - see Research fee |
| Research fee (see main entry above) applies if you need help finding a chart number/version/NM corrected state researched for a particular incident date | This includes a preview image. (See main entry above) |
Price Table B - Product charges for various sizes of documents
| Product | Size | Up to A4 | Up to A3 | Up to A2 | Up to A1 | Up to A0 | Up to 2x A0 | Up to 4x A0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B&W photocopy | £0.40 | £0.50 | ||||||
| Colour photocopy | £0.80 | £1.00 | ||||||
| Digital print on satin paper (colour corr/resizing inc.) | £15 | £20 | £25 | £30 | £40 | £80 | £160 | |
| Digital Scan on disc (no colour corr/resizing) | £25 | £25 | £25 | £25 | £25 | £50 | £100 | |
| Digital Scan on disc (colour corr/resizing inc.) | £40 | £40 | £40 | £40 | £40 | £65 | £115 | |
| Research fee per hour | £80 | |||||||
| Handling/administration fee per order | £15 | |||||||
| Digital stitching per hour | £80 | |||||||
| Priority service (per order) | £40 |
Order process
To place an order, please consult the price list above, complete the order form and email it to research@ukho.gov.uk. We will then email you a quote and once paid for, your order can be processed. We now offer PayPal as our preferred method of payment. Transactions can also be made by Credit/debit card via PayPal without requiring a PayPal account. Please complete as many fields in the form as possible.
Order form
Please consult the price list above before filling in an order form. Please note that the minimum cost for an A2 print is £54.00 and for a digital image is £51.60 (delivered to a U.K. address). Please complete as many fields in the form as possible.
Download the order form:
Please allow a minimum of ten working days for an order to be despatched after making payment, depending on the complexity of the order.
Copyright
Archive material may be subject to copyright. Please refer to our copyright section for details.
Purchasing copies of surveys
Copies of Royal Navy surveys can be supplied. Permission has to be obtained by Research staff for surveys that are less than 125 years old. All copies have to be paid for in advance before they are released.
The UKHO holds a large quantity of third party survey data, i.e. surveys not owned by the Royal Navy. They cannot be released without the permission of the data owner. If permission in writing is obtained from the data owner, and all the copy costs paid for in advance, then the UKHO can supply a copy.
Requests for copies of digital survey data should be addressed to bdc@ukho.gov.uk.
Research visits to the UKHO Archive
To arrange a visit to the Archive for genuine research purposes, please contact the Archive Research Section with the appropriate amount of notice:
- British Nationals 1-2 weeks
- Foreign Nationals 4-6 weeks
As the Archive is situated on a Ministry of Defence site, failure to apply far enough in advance will mean a visit may be refused. Travel and hotel arrangements should not be made before a visit date and security clearances have been confirmed by the Archive.
Personal access to the archive is free. We do, however, charge for reproductions of documents, any research work and handling undertaken by our staff. For further details please see the relevant sections above.
Opening times:
- Open by appointment only (minimum two weeks notice)
- Monday to Friday except bank holidays 09:00 - 16:30
- Last document orders are at 15:30
Download the visit request form:
The UKHO Archive Information Asset Register
The UKHO Archive Information Asset Register (IAR) contributes to the government-wide IAR, available through the Office of Public Sector Information.
Contact details
To find out more about the archive and researching its contents please contact the archive research section.
Tel: +44 (0)1823 483341 / 483409
Email: research@ukho.gov.uk
Last updated 19 April 2022 + show all updates
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Edited 'Archive Contents' section - new link added allowing access to UKHO archive online catalogue.
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Content structure amended from: 1. About the Archive 2. Accessing the UKHO Archive 3. Research 4. Obtaining copies of archive material 5. Archive contents 6. The UKHO Archive Information Asset Register 7. Contact details to 1. About the Archive 2. Archive contents 3. Research 4. Obtaining copies of archive material 5. Research visits to the UKHO Archive 6. The UKHO Archive IAR 7. Contact details Pricing information updated within Price Table B and new Price Table A added. Furthermore, PDF 'UKHO Archive research and reproduction services, pricing and help guide' available for download. PDF 'OCB series coverage 1800 - 2016' also now available for download.
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Information on the National Archives Discovery catalogue added.
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Change of pricing schedule.
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Admiralty charts of Scottish waters, 1795-1963 are now all online
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First published.