Downloading OS OpenData

Firstly, OS VectorMap District needs to be downloaded from the OS Data hub:

OS Data HubOrdnanceSurvey

Scroll to OS VectorMap District. Ensure that the data type is raster, and select grid reference square using the two letter reference list. Southampton lies in the SU grid reference square, so SU has been selected from the reference list.

Downloading OS OpenData

Opening OS OpenData in QGIS

OS VectorMap District in GeoTIFF Full Colour supply format

Opening and saving a map in Composer

Here is a larger image of the National Grid Reference squares:

Great Britain National Grid Reference squares

• Tick the box for Download (as seen in download page image).

• Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Next.

• Fill in the details required and you will receive an email with a link to download the data as a .zip file. Save to a designated folder. Once the download is complete extract the file.

Now you will have a folder containing 100 TIFF image files (.tif) from SU00-SU99, which are 10km x 10km tiles that are numbered to their relative position in the grid:

09	19	29	39	49	59	69	79	89	99
08	18	28	38	48	58	68	78	88	98
07	17	27	37	47	57	67	77	87	97
06	16	26	36	46	56	66	76	86	96
05	15	25	35	45	55	65	75	85	95
04	14	24	34	44	54	64	74	84	94
03	13	23	33	43	53	63	73	83	93
02	12	22	32	42	52	62	72	82	92
01	11	21	31	41	51	61	71	81	91
00	10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90