ABSTRACTS of the PRIMARY LINES of the SECOND GEODETIC LEVELLING in ENGLAND & WALES by Colonel Sir Charles Close, KBE, CB, CMG, FRS Director-General of the Ordnance Survey Southampton 1921			The following index lists the Primary lines of the Second Geodetic Levelling of England & Wales, carried out between 1912 and 1921 by the Ordnance Survey. The linked pages are scans of the abstract, which list the "intermediate points" surveyed between the 86 Fundamental Bench Marks (FBM's) and 5 Tide Gauges. Results and analysis so far here
Plate 1 The First Geodetic Levelling of England & Wales (1840-1860) Plate 2 The Second Geodetic Levelling of England & Wales (1921-1921) Plate 3 The Second Geodetic Levelling of England & Wales (1921-1921) (New value of bench mark -- Old value of bench mark) Dunbar Dunbar Tidal Observatory - Sketches
Various volunteers have come forward to enable the transcription of this data into a more useful format, and more importantly the translation of the surveyor's descriptions into something meaningful today. These are now detailed against each line in the table below Suggested format for transcribing these lists is as follows - example based on Barry's plot of Church Stretton to Oswestry (sequence decremented!) Field Description Example Pair listed against each index entry below first draft of codes Side Levels and Branch Lines as AAA-BBBa OSW-CHS Source used to distinguish between data from this abstract (2GL), and from elsewhere NEW 2GL Sequence within Line (starting at 0) 3 FB FB number (if available) 2650 Type FB: Flush Bracket PB: Protruding Bracket (Bracket in the abstract) FBM: Fundamental Bench Mark Bolt: Bolt! BM: 'Old' B.M. in the abstract   Others ... FB Description verbatim from abstract FB on S.E. battlement of Morton Bridge Grid Ref 6 fig+ NGR SJ 313 231 Height from abstract OPTIONAL 232.055 Cross Ref Line and Sequence of other lines it's in ... OPTIONAL AAA-BBB:27 Type of route e.g. road, canal, railway OPTIONAL road Status plot: Estimated photo: Photographed found: Found "on the ground" cnf Could Not Find - again "on the ground" gone Gone, dead, buried ... cnf Notes How the GR was estimated etc Bridge marked on Exp:999 Link URL to where photo/more info can be found. OPTIONAL If this data is being entered into an Excel spreadsheet, then past experience would suggest adding a formula like =A1&","&B1&","&C1&","&D1&","&E1&","&CHAR(34)&F1&CHAR(34)&","&G1&","&H1&","&I1&", "&J1&","&K1&","&CHAR(34)&L1&CHAR(34)&","&CHAR(34)&M1&CHAR(34) after the last column, and pasting the contents of this to a text file. Including headings will simplify reading these later! An Excel spreadsheet which provides (among other things) a template for this can be found here Current proposal is that these files be emailed to Barry Hunter, who's volunteered for the first part of the collation exercise! These intermediate csv files will be made available here Results and analysis so far here Several "status" flags I've proposed: trans: transcribed driven: 50% of FB's found 'on the ground' plot: plotted to an OS grid ref hopefully linked to the csv file for now walked: 75% of FB's found collt: collated 'centrally' wherever that might be ... survyd: 90% of FB's found!
Line	Pair	Lines of Levelling	Length (miles)	Date of Levelling	Page in Abstract	Side Levels	status	vol'tr
001	ABG-BRE	Abergavenny to Brecon	22.8	Jan,14-Jun,14	46	46
002	ALF-CRY	Alfriston to Croydon	46.3	Jul,19-Nov,19	26,27	27,28	trans	IanR
003	ARU-ALF	Arundel to Alfriston	37.0	Aug,19-Jan,20	25,26	26		IanR
004	BAS-WAL	Basingstoke to Wallingford	35.0	May,12-Jun,12	20,21	21		JohnT
005	BOS-GRA	Boscastle to Grampound	37.4	Apr,15-Oct,15	6	6
006	BAB-ABG	Brampton Abbots to Abergavenny	24.4	Jun,13-Jan,14	47	47
007	BAB-SUC	Brampton Abbots to Suckley	25.1	Jan,13-Jun,13	40	-
008	BRE-LLA	Brecon to Llandovery	23.6	Sep,13-Jan,14	48	-
009	BRI-BEE	Bridford to Beer	30.6	Sep,16-Apr,17	6	6
010	BRI-YEL	Bridford to Yelverton	26.7	Jul,15-Feb,16	3	3
011	BRO-WAR	Bromsgrove to Warwick	25.4	Mar,13-Jul,13	38	37
012	BUC-SAP	Buckland to Sapperton	34.3	Jul,12-Nov,12	22	-		JohnT
013	BUL-NOR	Bulmer to Northallerton	31.0	Oct,18-Mar,19	96,97	97
014	BUN-CLA	Buntingford to Clare	32.1	Apr,14-Dec,14	69,70	70	plot	IanR
015	CRM-LLA	Carmarthen to Llandovery	29.6	Aug,13-Jan,14	48,49	49
	CRM-LLAb	Carmarthen to Llandovery (Carmarthen, Llanelly, Neath, Merthyr Tydfil & Abergavenny)		Aug,13-Jan,14	49,50,51,52, 53,54,55	-
	CRM-LLAc	Carmarthen to Llandovery (Llanelly to Llandilo)		Aug,13-Jan,14	55,56,57	-
	CRM-LLAd	Carmarthen to Llandovery (Neath, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil)		Aug,13-Jan,14	57,58,59,60, 61	-
016	CAS-WOW	Castor to Waltham-on-the-Wolds	35.6	Mar,14-Aug,14	64	64		RobW
017	CAS-WKN	Castor to Wicken	41.0	Mar,14-Oct,14	71,72	72	plot	IanR
018	CHS-BRE	Church Stretton to Brecon	62.0	Oct,19-Oct,20	44,45	45,46
019	CLA-IPS	Clare to Ipswich	26.6	Mar,17-May,17	73	73	plot	IanR
020	CRA-CAS	Cranford to Castor	25.7	Feb,16-Jun,16	63	63		RobW
021	CRY-WCA	Croydon to Windsor Castle	29.4	Jan,20-Apr,20	28	28,29	trans	IanR
022	DAR-WRE	Daresbury to Wrexham	30.7	Mar,20-Jul,20	86	86		RoyB Barry
023	DVE-GRL	Daventry to Great Linford	27.6	Apr,13-Oct,13	31,32	32		RWW
024	DRC-BEE	Dorchester to Beer	35.4	May,17-Nov,17	7	7
025	DRC-WIM	Dorchester to Wimborne	31.5	Oct,12-Mar,13	10	10
026	DUL-BRI	Dulverton to Bridford	32.6	Jun,16-Dec,16	4,5	4
027	DUL-TOR	Dulverton to Torrington	30.1	Dec,17-May,18	4	5
028	DBT:CCT	Dunbar Circuit		Oct,13-Dec,13	110	-		Graeme
029	DBT-DBW	Dunbar Tidal Observatory to Dunbar West	0.9	Oct,13-Dec,13	110	-		Graeme
030	DBW-DBE	Dunbar West to Dunbar East		Oct,13-Nov,13	110	-		Graeme
031	DBW-WBR	Dunbar West to Wester Broomhouse	2.5	Jan,14-Feb,14	110	110		Graeme
032	DUC-KEL	Duns Common to Kelso	19.9	Oct,14-Jan,15	105	105	plot	Graeme
033	DUC-WBR	Duns Common to Wester Broomhouse	24.4	Jan,15-May,15	109	109		Graeme
034	FAR-ARU	Fareham to Arundel	27.3	Apr,19-Jul,19	24,25	25		IanR
035	FAR-SOU	Fareham to Southampton	17.0	Aug,12-Sep,12	18	-
036	FAR-WIN	Fareham to Winchester	29.4	Apr,12-Jun,12	19	19
037	FLT:CCT	Felixstowe Circuit		Jul,17-Jul,17	74	-	plot	IanR
038	FLB-SHA	Flax Bourton to Sharpness	30.7	Nov,12-May,13	24	24
039	FOR-WOL	Forcett to Wolsingham	22.9	Mar,18-Jun,18	98,99	99
040	GRA-LIS	Grampound to Liskeard	26.6	Jan,16-Jul,16	2	2
041	GRA-TRO	Grampound to Troon	21.3	Sep,15-Dec,15	2	2
042	GRL-CRA	Great Linford to Cranford	27.9	Sep,15-Jan,16	61,62	62		RobW
043	GRL-HEH	Great Linford to Hemel Hempstead	38.8	Jul,13-Mar,14	37	37		JohnT
044	GRL-WAL	Great Linford to Wallingford	47.0	Jun,16-Nov,16	30,31	31		JohnT
045	GRE-BRM	Greetland to Broomhead Moor	30.6	Jun,13-Mar,14	94,95	95
046	GRE-SKI	Greetland to Skipton	34.4	Aug,13-Mar,14	93,94	94
047	HAW-KEL	Hawick to Kelso	22.7	Oct,14-Jan,15	106	106		Graeme
048	HEH-BUN	Hemel Hempstead to Buntingford	31.1	Apr,14-Aug,14	68,69	69	trans	IanR
049	HEH-WCA	Hemel Hempstead to Windsor Castle	30.4	Nov,13-Mar,14	35,36	-	trans	JohnT / IanR
050	HEX-LHO	Hexham to Longhorsley	32.0	Jan,18-Jul,19	102,103	103
051	HIB-MAT	Hibaldstow to Matlock	61.9	Sep,19-Dec,20	79,80	80		RodS
052	HIB-SCV	Hibaldstow to South Cave	40.2	Jan,18-Jun,18	89	89
053	IPS-FLT	Ipswich to Felixstowe (FB 2093)	18.6	Dec,16-Mar,17	74	74	plot	IanR
054	KIS-PNR	Kirkby Stephen to Penrith	27.2	Apr,14-Jul,14	108,109	-
055	LVF-DAR	Liverpool to Daresbury	26.1	Oct,19-Feb,20	84	85		RoyB
056	LVF-LVT	Liverpool to Liverpool Tidal Station (FB2607)	3.1	Sep,19-Oct,19	85	85		RoyB
057	LHO-BEL	Longhorsley to Belford	31.0	Oct,18-Feb,19	103	103,104
058	MCC-DAR	Macclesfield to Daresbury	28.1	Dec,19-Mar,20	83	83,84	plot	RoyB
059	MAD-TOL	Madron to Newlyn (Tolcarne)		Feb,16-Apr,16	1	-
060	MAT-BRM	Matlock to Broomhead Moor	30.6	Sep,19-Mar,20	95,96	96	plot	RodS
061	MAT-MCC	Matlock to Macclesfield	32.6	Jul,19-Mar,20	81,82	82	plot	RodS
062	MAT-MEL	Matlock to Melbourne	27.5	Nov,12-Feb,13	80,81	-	plot	RodS
063	MEL-NUN	Melbourne to Nuneaton	33.4	Jun,13-Jan,14	66,67	67		RodS
064	MEL-STA	Melbourne to Stafford	32.6	Feb,19-Sep,19	75	75		RodS
065	MEL-WOW	Melbourne to Waltham-on-the-Wolds	33.3	Feb,14-Jun,14	65	-		RodS
066	MOR-BEL	Mordington to Belford	18.9	Sep,16-Dec,16	104	104
067	MOR-DUC	Mordington to Duns Common	14.6	Mar,19-May,19	105	104		IanP
068	NAV-HIB	Navenby to Hibaldstow	28.1	Apr,18-Aug,18	78	78
069	NCL-HAW	Newcastleton to Hawick	21.8	Aug,14-Oct,14	106,107	107		Graeme
070	TOL-PAU	Newlyn (Tolcarne) to Paul		Jan,16-Jan,16	1	-
071	NLT:CCT	Newlyn Circuit		Jan,16-Apr,16	1	-
072	NLT-TOL	Newlyn Tidal Observatory BM to Newlyn (Tolcarne)	1.2	May,15-Jan,16	1	-
073	NPE-DUL	North Petherton to Dulverton	32.7	Feb,15-Aug,15	9	9
074	NPE-FLB	North Petherton to Flax Bourton	33.3	Dec,12-Jun,13	16	-
	NPE-FLBa	North Petherton to Flax Bourton (Axmouth to Perry Farm Branch)		Dec,12-Jun,13	16	17
	NPE-FLBc	North Petherton to Flax Bourton (Stolford Branch)		Dec,12-Jun,13	18	-
075	NOR-FOR	Northallerton to Forcett	26.1	Oct,17-Feb,18	97,98	98
076	OSW-CHS	Oswestry to Church Stretton	31.2	Jan,20-May,20	88	88	plot	Barry
077	PAU-SNC	Paul to Sancreed		Jan,16-Jan,16	1	-
078	PNR-WRL	Penrith to Wetheral	21.0	Dec,14-Mar,15	108	-
079	RIB-KIS	Ribblesdale to Kirkby Stephen	29.3	Jul,14-Oct,14	100	100
080	SNC-MAD	Sancreed to Madron		Jan,16-Feb,16	1	-
081	SAP-CAM	Sapperton to Campden	31.1	Mar,15-Aug,15	34,35	35
082	SAP-SHA	Sapperton to Sharpness	24.2	Sep,12-Nov,12	23	23
083	SHA-BAB	Sharpness to Brampton Abbots	36.4	Dec,12-Jun,13	41,42	42
084	SKI-RIB	Skipton to Ribblesdale	25.6	Aug,14-Dec,14	101	101		RobW
085	SKI-WBY	Skipton to Wetherby	27.0	Jul,18-Dec,18	92	93
086	SCV-BUL	South Cave to Bulmer	33.3	Jun,18-Oct,18	90	90
087	SOU-SOE	Southampton to Southampton (Tide Gauge - Empress Dock)	2.2	Apr,21-May,21	11	11
088	SOU-SOT	Southampton to Southampton (Tide Gauge - Town Quay)		Feb,22-Feb,22	11	-
089	SOU-WIM	Southampton to Wimborne	38.8	Sep,12-Oct,12	10,11	-
	SOU-WIMa	Southampton to Wimborne (Branch Line)		Sep,12-Oct,12	11	-
090	SOU-WIN	Southampton to Winchester	13.5	Nov,19-Feb,20	12	12
	SOU-WINb	Southampton to Winchester (Romsey Circuit Branch)		Nov,19-Feb,20	12	13
	SOU-WINd	Southampton to Winchester (Eastleigh to Winchester Branch)		Nov,19-Feb,20	13	-
	SOU-WINe	Southampton to Winchester (Bar End to Winnall Branch)		Nov,19-Feb,20	13	-
091	STA-CHS	Stafford to Church Stretton	47.3	Mar,19-Nov,19	76	76,77
092	SUC-BRO	Suckley to Bromsgrove	25.4	Jan,13-Mar,13	39	39
093	SUC-CHS	Suckley to Church Stretton	43.9	Jan,14-Jul,14	42,43,44	44
094	THF-DRC	Thornford to Dorchester	18.8	Nov,12-Mar,13	8	-
095	THF-NPE	Thornford to North Petherton	27.5	Nov,12-Mar,13	8,9	-
096	TOR-BOS	Torrington to Boscastle	34.1	Mar,15-Sep,15	5	5
097	TRO-TOL	Troon to Newlyn (Tolcarne)	15.7	Oct,15-Dec,15	1	1
098	UPL-FLB	Upton Lovell to Flax Bourton	44.3	Aug,12-Dec,12	15	-
099	WAL-BUC	Wallingford to Buckland	25.8	May,12-Jun,12	21	-		JohnT
100	WOW-NAV	Waltham-on-the-Wolds to Navenby	28.7	Jun,17-Sep,17	77	78		RobW
101	WAR-CAM	Warwick to Campden	26.8	May,15-Sep,15	33,34	34
102	WAR-DVE	Warwick to Daventry	22.5	Mar,13-Jun,13	33	-
103	WAR-NUN	Warwick to Nuneaton	24.0	Jul,13-Nov,13	67,68	68
104	WRL-NCL	Wetheral to Newcastleton	31.1	Aug,14-Dec,14	107	-
105	WBY-BUL	Wetherby to Bulmer	32.0	Dec,18-Jul,19	91	91,92
106	WKN-CLA	Wicken to Clare	28.4	Apr,14-Aug,14	71	-	plot	IanR
107	WIN-BAS	Winchester to Basingstoke	26.6	May,12-Jun,12	20	-
108	WIN-UPL	Winchester to Upton Lovell	45.8	Jun,12-Oct,12	14	14
	WIN-UPLb	Winchester to Upton Lovell (Mottisfont to Romsey Branch)		Jun,12-Oct,12	14	-
109	WCA-WAL	Windsor Castle to Wallingford	27.4	Nov,13-Jan,14	29	29,30		JohnT
110	WOL-HEX	Wolsingham to Hexham	24.0	Sep,18-Jan,19	102	102
111	WOL-KIS	Wolsingham to Kirkby Stephen	37.0	Jun,18-Oct,18	99,100	100
112	WRE-OSW	Wrexham to Oswestry	24.0	Aug,19-Dec,19	87	87		Barry
113	YEL-LIS	Yelverton to Liskeard	23.9	Apr,16-Aug,16	3	3
Thanks already to Barry Hunter for volunteering server space for this exercise! and again for the scripting already in place - and under development!! - Ian Richardson - 20040823 - The first few volunteers were - John Talbot: Wallingford &c Roy Beacham: Daresbury Rod Sladen: Matlock then Melbourne Barry Hunter: N Wales Rob Woodall: Castor Ian Peattie: Mordington - Duns Common IanR: Clare / Wicken lines Graeme Paterson: Dunbar area