Obtaining OS Open Names data

Product supply

The OS Open Names product is supplied in three formats (CSV, GML and GeoPackage) as an online download and as an application programming interface (API), both of which can be accessed from the OS Data Hub.

Update schedule

Updates are supplied quarterly (January, April, July and October) and are provided as a complete resupply. Any features that are deleted between supplies are not included in the resupply.

Coverage

OS Open Names covers named places for Great Britain.

File size

The approximate file size of each data format is as follows:

• CSV: 1.65Gb

• GML: 9.1Gb

• GeoPackage: 2.1Gb

File structure

CSV

The file structure of OS Open Names CSV format supply is:

• Root folder: Readme.txt (summary of supplied data).

  • Doc folder: OS_Open_Names_Headers.csv (description of column headers) and licence.txt (important licencing information).

  • Data folder: 819 files in CSV format.

Each file contains data for a 20x20km area labelled with the corresponding grid reference, for example, HP40.csv.

The structure of OS Open Names supplied in CSV is described in the Technical Specification.

GeoPackage

The file structure of OS Open Names GeoPackage format supply is:

• Root folder: Readme.txt (summary of supplied data).

  • Doc folder: licence.txt (important licencing information).

  • Data folder: opname_gb.gpkg (single file in GeoPackage format).

This file is a self-contained database.

The structure of OS Open Names supplied in GeoPackage

GML

The file structure of OS Open Names GML format supply is:

• Root folder: Readme.txt (summary of supplied data).

  • Doc folder: OS_Open_Names_Headers.csv (description of column headers) and licence.txt (important licencing information).

  • Data folder: 819 files in GML format.

Each file contains data for a 20x20km area labelled with the corresponding grid reference, for example, HP40.gml.

The structure of OS Open Names supplied in GML format is described in the Technical Specification.

Metadata

OS Open Names metadata is ISO 19115 UK GEMINI 2 compliant. For more information, see OSOpenNames.xml.