Case Study: RCAHMS (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland) makes Scotland’s historic environment accessible with Ordnance Survey’s PastMap

RCAHMS - Customer Case Study

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) needed to bring together Scotland’s architectural, archaeological and historic-environment information into a single, easy-to-access public platform. Working with Ordnance Survey, which provided OS mapping under the One Scotland Mapping Agreement (including OSMA vector and raster backdrops, MiniScale, OS Vector Map® products and raster datasets), RCAHMS faced the challenge of aggregating multiple agencies’ datasets, simplifying public access, and managing partner contributions cost‑effectively.

Ordnance Survey mapping was integrated into PastMap — a web portal maintained by RCAHMS and co-funded by Historic Scotland — creating a single interactive map that displays partner location-based data on scalable, user-friendly maps. The use of Ordnance Survey data and OSMA licensing removed additional fees for sharing, sped up responses to basic enquiries, promoted Scotland’s heritage, and helped historic-environment agencies deliver on national outcomes.

RCAHMS

Peter McKeague

RCAHMS