A collection of 'Object Name Books' and 'Minor Control Point Albums' produced by the Ordnance Survey. The books were created by surveyors working for the Ordnance Survey in the 1950s, 1960s and 1980s. During this period the Isle of Man Government commissioned reviews of the Ordnance Survey maps of the Island, which brought the first updates to the large scale maps of the Island since the 19th century.
The 'Object Name Books' consist of large but thin paper back volumes with copies of the map squares they list and the object names lists themselves. Each 'Object Name Book' relates to one square of the National Grid or County Series maps. The surveyor listed all the names in that area, updating old names and adding new ones. A large range of objects are listed and named, from bridges and fortifications to mountains, farms, cottages, roads and street names. The level of detail depends on the density of outstanding objects in the square being surveyed. Some books cover two National Grid squares and this results from the fact that the maps in question show coastline areas, where one square sits mostly on land and the other in the sea.
The 'National Grid Minor Control Point Albums' follow the same principle of organisation as the Object Name Books, where each album corresponds to one square of the National Grid. The albums are small, close to A4 size. They contain signed authorisations by the land owners from where the surveyor took the reference points, technical information, descriptions and hand drawn illustrations of the points taken that were used to triangulate the area to help the reader understand the description of the said reference.
The 'Receipts' are simple receipts forms with a list of the records sent with each shipping of the 'Object Name Books' and 'Minor Control Point Albums' from the Ordnance Survey in the United Kingdom to the Isle of Man.