Ordnance Survey Maps
From the 1850s to the 1890s, the Ordnance Survey produced maps of Great Britain at a scale of six inches (1:10560) and twenty-five inches (1:2500) to the mile. (Ireland had been surveyed at the six-inch scale between 1833 and 1846, as had the northern counties of England.) The maps were surveyed and published, county by county, and later revisions and new editions appeared at intervals. The maps provide a wealth of detail on quarries and associated buildings, tramways, roads and railways. Collections of Ordnance Survey maps (not necessarily complete) will be found in the local record office or reference library. (The British Library has a full set.) The maps are particularly useful when a series is available, showing the development of the quarry.