If you’re creating an interactive web map, you may wish to restrict the ability to pan beyond the extent of the sea polygon. The necessary coordinates for this are:
-11.3, 49.4 - Southwest coordinates
3.5, 61.5 - Northeast coordinates
The names layer is multi-lingual. For settlement names (Cities, Towns, Villages, etc.) the name1 attribute will contain the accepted or English name and name2 will contain the Welsh, Gaelic or English name.
The name1language and name2language attributes let you select which names to display. For example, if you want to show all the Welsh language names then you can use these attributes to filter them out and render them on your map.
These are the attribute values in the language fields:
cym = The name is in the Welsh language.
eng = The name is in the English language.
gla = The name is in the Scottish Gaelic language.
NULL = The language type is not set if there is only one name, or if there are two names, and the language of one or both of the names is not recorded as English, Welsh or Gaelic.
The table below provides the list of layers and a brief description for each one.
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
Airports
A centre point for all major airports including a name.
Boundaries
National boundary lines between England - Scotland and England - Wales.
Building
Generalised building footprints at both local and district resolutions. The local buildings have a unique identifier which can be used to style features distinctly. The identifier will not be persistent between product versions and therefore there will be no change history information for a feature.
Contours
These contours lines have a 10-metre interval with an index every 50 metres. Each contour contains a value.
ETL
Electricity Transmission Lines.
Foreshore
These polygons depict the part of the shore or beach which lies between the Mean Low Water Mark and Mean High Water Mark.
Greenspace
Polygon features representing the extent of places such as parks and sports facilities that are likely to be accessible to the public.
Land
This layer depicts the shape of Great Britain. (GeoPackage only)
Names
Use this point layer to render contextual labels on your map.
National Parks
Theses polygons depict the extent of the 15 National Parks in Great Britain.
Railway Stations
This layer contains a point for all stations and includes a name.
Rail
Lines representing the railway network. They are broken where they pass under bridges, buildings or other obstructing detail.
Roads
Lines representing the road network. A road is defined as a metalled way for vehicles.
Sea
This layer depicts the sea around Great Britain. (Vector Tiles only)
Sites
Polygon features that represent the area or extent of certain types of function or activity.
Surface Water
These polygons represent inland water bodies that are sufficiently wide enough to be captured as an area.
Urban Areas
These are generalised polygons representing built-up areas for use at smaller scales.
Waterlines
Lines representing rivers, canals, drains and other linear bodies of water.
Woodland
The polygons represent areas of trees: coniferous, non-coniferous and mixed.
Geometry type: Point
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
Geometry type: LineString
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
Geometry type: LineString
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
Geometry type: Polygon
Geometry type: LineString
Geometry type: Polygon
Geometry type: Polygon
Geometry type: Polygon
Geometry type: Polygon
Geometry type: Point
Geometry type: Polygon
Geometry type: Point
Geometry type: LineString
Geometry type: LineString
Geometry type: LineString
Geometry type: LineString
Geometry type: MultiPolygon
Geometry type: Polygon
Geometry type: Polygon
Geometry type: LineString
Geometry type: Polygon
There are four pre-made styles available for Zoomstack. These can be downloaded from GitHub, and instructions for applying them are available in the associated . This section contains a brief overview of the four available styles to help you choose.
This style focuses on transport networks, specifically highlighting the Great British road network. High in contrast with lots of detail and colour, this style will fit many uses and satisfy those who are familiar with traditional OS maps.
Designed for outdoor leisure and used within our OS Maps desktop and mobile application. Borrowing certain design elements from our traditional paper maps this style focuses on terrain and land cover, has a minimal colour palette and contains familiar symbology.
Designed specifically for data visualisation, this style has a subtle palette and is simple and clear. Use it to add geographic context and make your own data shine.
Night mode mapping that is designed for dark environments. This style is at its best on a mobile device where dark pixels can help save battery power and make the screen easier to use in low lighting conditions.
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
| Attributes | Attribute Types | Feature Types |
|---|---|---|
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
name
varchar
geom
Point
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
National
type
varchar
geom
LineString
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
Index
type
varchar
Normal
height
double precision
geom
LineString
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
geom
LineString
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
geom
Polygon
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
Allotments Or Community Growing Spaces
type
varchar
Bowling Green
type
varchar
Cemetery
type
varchar
Golf Course
type
varchar
Other Sports Facility
type
varchar
Play Space
type
varchar
Playing Field
type
varchar
Public Park Or Garden
type
varchar
Religious Grounds
geom
Polygon
Tennis Court
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
geom
Polygon
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
uuid
varchar
geom
Polygon
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
Country
type
varchar
Capital
type
varchar
City
type
varchar
Town
type
varchar
Village
type
varchar
Hamlet
type
varchar
Small Settlements
type
varchar
Suburban Area
type
varchar
Woodland
type
varchar
Landform
type
varchar
Landcover
type
varchar
Water
type
varchar
Greenspace
type
varchar
Sites
type
varchar
Motorway Junction
type
varchar
National Park
name1
varchar
name1language
varchar
cym
name1language
varchar
eng
name1language
varchar
gla
name1language
varchar
NULL
name2
varchar
name2language
varchar
cym
name2language
varchar
eng
name2language
varchar
gla
name2language
varchar
NULL
geom
Point
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
geom
Polygon
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
Light Rapid Transit Station
type
varchar
Light Rapid Transit Station And London Underground Station
type
varchar
Light Rapid Transit Station And Railway Station
type
varchar
London Underground Station
type
varchar
Railway Station
type
varchar
Railway Station And London Underground Station
name
varchar
geom
Point
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
Multi Track
type
varchar
Single Track
type
varchar
Narrow Gauge
type
varchar
Tunnel
geom
Linesting
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
type
varchar
Local
type
varchar
Minor
type
varchar
Guided Busway
name
varchar
number
varchar
level
integer
0
level
integer
1
level
integer
2
geom
LineString
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
type
varchar
Primary
type
varchar
Motorway
name
varchar
number
varchar
level
integer
0
level
integer
1
level
integer
2
geom
LineString
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
type
varchar
A Road
type
varchar
B Road
type
varchar
Tunnels
name
varchar
number
varchar
level
integer
0
level
integer
1
level
integer
2
geom
LineString
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
type
varchar
Air Transport
type
varchar
Education
type
varchar
Medical Care
type
varchar
Road Transport
type
varchar
Water Transport
geom
MultiPolygon
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
type
varchar
Local
type
varchar
Regional
type
varchar
National
geom
Polygon
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
type
varchar
Regional
type
varchar
National
geom
Polygon
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
type
varchar
Local
type
varchar
District
type
varchar
Regional
type
varchar
National
type
varchar
MHW
type
varchar
MLW
geom
LineString
id
SERIAL PRIMARY KEY
type
varchar
Local
type
varchar
Regional
type
varchar
National
geom
Polygon
This technical specification provides detailed technical information about OS Open Zoomstack. It is targeted at technical users and software developers.
OS Open Zoomstack is a comprehensive vector basemap showing coverage of Great Britain at a national level, right down to street-level detail. Described as a “game changer” by users, it's one map, in one file that can be used for GIS, web, mobile or for offline use.
Zoomstack is supplied in GeoPackage and Vector Tiles formats.
This document supports the Open Zoomstack Getting Started Guide and provides you with detailed technical information relating to the product.
This document is intended for:
Users with technical knowledge in GIS. Supply Formats
GeoPackage (zipped) – Approximately 3.8GB zipped and 11.8 unzipped
Vector Tiles (MBTiles) – Approximately 2.6GB Coverage
This data covers content for Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland).
We have designed the data schemas slightly differently due to the way they are used and applied within a range of software. These differences are:
Projection – This is the most noticeable difference. The GeoPackage is in British National Grid (EPSG: 27700) whilst Vector Tiles is in Web Mercator (EPSG: 3857).
Number of layers - They contain a different number of layers (21 for GeoPackage, 18 for Vector Tiles) as we endeavoured to make the data as performant as possible, across a range of technologies. The nature of a Vector Tiles pyramid means that many different geometries can exist in the same layer and only be rendered at given zoom levels – a concept not apparent in many GIS software. Therefore, we made decisions to split layers out based on their spatial resolutions (e.g. roads are split into 3 layers; national, regional and local).
Depicting the extent of Great Britain – The GeoPackage contains a Land layer to depict the extent of Great Britain whereas the Vector Tiles contain a Sea layer which is the inverse but gives the same visual appearance.
The tables below indicate an X where a feature type or layer is present at the indicated zoom level.
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
| Feature Types | Attributes | Zoom level: 0 - 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|
n/a | name | X | X | X | X | X |
National | type | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
n/a | uuid | X | X | X | X |
normal | type ,value | X | X | X |
index | type ,value | X | X | X | X | X | X |
n/a | n/a | X | X | X |
n/a | n/a | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Allotments Or Community Growing Spaces | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Bowling green | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Cemetry | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Golf Course | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Other Sports Facility | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Play Space | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Playing Field | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Public Park or Garden | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Religious Grounds | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Tennis Court | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Country | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Capital | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
National Park | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
City | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | x | X | X | X | X | x | X | X | X |
Town | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Village | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Hamlet | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Small Settlements | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X |
Suburban Area | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X | X |
Woodland | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X |
Landform | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X |
Landcover | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X |
Water | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X | X | X |
Greenspace | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X |
Sites | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X | X |
Motorway Junctions | type, name1, name1language, name2, name2language | X |
n/a | n/a | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Light Rapid Transit Station | type, name | X | X | X |
Light Rapid Transit Station And London Underground Station | type, name | X | X | X |
Light Rapid Transit Station And Railway Station | type, name | X | X | X |
London Underground Station | type, name | X | X | X |
Railway Station | type, name | X | X | X |
Railway Station And London Underground Station | type, name | X | X | X |
Multi Track | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Single Track | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Narrow Gauge | type | X |
Tunnel | type | X | X | X | X | X |
Motorway | type, name, number, level | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Primary | type, name, number, level | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
A Road | type, name, number, level | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
B Road | type, name, number, level | X | X | X | X | X |
Guided Busway | type, name, number, level | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Minor | type, name, number, level | X | X | X | X |
Local | type, name, number, level | X | X | X |
Restricted | type, name, number, level | X | X | X |
Tunnels | type, name, number, level | X | X | X | X | X | X |
n/a | n/a | x | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Air Transport | type | X | X | X | X |
Education | type | X | X | X | X |
Medical Care | type | X | X | X | X |
Road Transport | type | X | X | X | X |
Water Transport | type | X | X | X | X |
n/a | n/a | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
n/a | type | X | X | X | X | X | X |
National | type | X |
Regional | type | X |
District | type | X | X |
Local | type | X | X | X |
MHW | type | X | X | X | X | X | X |
MLW | ty[e | X | X | X | X | X | X |
n/a | n/a | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
