Directorate of Fortifications and Works maps for sites in England, Channel Islands, Gibraltar, Bermuda, Kowloon Peninsula
Scope and Contents
Plans and drawings of army barracks, depots, forts, batteries and other military structures. Mostly marked 'secret' or similar. Show site details omitted from publicly available maps. Scales range from 1:500 to 1:126,720.
Dates
- Creation: 1857 - 1956
Conditions Governing Access
This item or collection is available for consultation by researchers in the Map Room at Cambridge University Library. Contact details and Map Room opening hours can be found at https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/maps/map-department-contact-details. Anyone wishing to use the collection must first acquire a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket, see https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/using-library/your-library-membership
Biographical / Historical
War Office, Fortifications Branch, 1855-1862 ; War Office, Master General of the Ordnance, Directorate of Fortifications and Works, 1904-1927 ; War Office, Quarter Master General, Directorate General of Works, 1959-1963 ; War Office, Quarter Master General, Directorate of Fortifcations and Works, 1935-1959 ; War Office, Quarter Master General, Directorate of Works, 1927-1935 ; War Office, Works Department, 1862-1870 ; War Office, Works Department, 1895-1904 ; War Office, Works Division, 1870-1887
Extent
186 map(s) (flat sheets) : paper
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
These maps are (largely) duplicates of the definitive set of these maps in The National Archives (TNA) at class WORK 43 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14644. The list of holdings at Cambridge University Library has been derived from the list supplied by DGC to TNA, retaining their running numbers. However, Cambridge received more than one copy of some sheets and these were retained where a difference in condition or annotations was noted and these copies are identified by an 'a' or 'b' at the end of the reference code. ALSO, two sheets not listed by DGC were received. These can be found at GBR/3296/Maps/Maps.aa.F.06.2156 and GBR/3296/Maps/Maps.aa.F.06.2157, the running numbers (2156 and 2157) being assigned because they did not appear in the TNA online catalogue.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Ministry of Defence, Defence Geographic Centre (DGC), December 2022
Existence and Location of Copies
Some are facsimilie copies of originals that were not held by Defence Geographic Centre (DGC ; the donor). Location of originals not known by DGC.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository
Cambridge University Library
West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom
Map Dept enquiries: maps@lib.cam.ac.uk
all other enquiries: mss@lib.cam.ac.uk