OS VectorMap District is available as:
Vector: ESRI Shapefile with each tile dataset zipped using gzip.
Raster: TIFF and compressed using LZW (Lemple-Ziv-Welch) compression.
Data: GML v3.2. Simple Features and schema zipped as a single file using gzip.
OS VectorMap District can be ordered from the Ordnance Survey OS OpenData™ website. This allows you to order your area of choice and format.
Data is available on DVD or as a download from: os.uk/oswebsite/products/vectormap/district/index.html
Ordnance Survey divides Great Britain into squares 100 km by 100 km. Each of these squares has a unique two-letter reference, for example, TG in the diagram below.
OS VectorMap District vector format tiles are identified by quoting the National Grid reference of the south-west corner of the 100 km² area they cover, for example TG.
To describe an OS VectorMap District raster format tile, which covers 10 km by 10 km, first add a two-digit reference to the 100 km by 100 km square reference, with the easting first followed by the northing, for example, TG23. For additional information on how to use the National Grid, visit the Ordnance Survey website at: os.uk/support/the-national-grid.html
Coverage is England, Wales and Scotland.
55 tiles, each covering 100 km x 100 km comprise the national set.
Each tile comprises a set of up to 24 Shapefiles.
Each Shapefile holds a single feature type.
Features within each Shapefile are cut into a 10 km x 10 km grid.
Tile sizes range from 1 Mb to 697 zipped Mb.
The data is not encrypted.
55 tiles, each covering 100 km x 100 km comprise the national set.
Each 100 km tile is split into 20 km by 20 km tiles (809 in total).
Each tile comprises of up to 57 Feature Codes.
Features that cross the grid line are split.
Tile sizes range from 1 Mb to 347 Mb.
The data is not encrypted.
2863 tiles, each covering 10 km x 10 km comprise the national set.
Tiles range from 2 Mb to 6.7 Mb.
In the vector product features that cross tile edges are included in both tiles, represented as hairy tiles. This avoids the creation of invalid geometries by arbitrary cutting, and facilitates greater use of the data in analytical applications. All features have unique identifiers which can be used to remove duplicates across tile edges, if required.
Note that these identifiers will not be persisted or maintained between product releases.