dataset · United Kingdom
Scanned images of the BGS borehole records collection.
Scanned images of the records of all onshore Great Britain (or near shore) boreholes, trial pits, shafts and wells held in the BGS archives in either paper, microfilm or digital format. The records range from simple single page lithological logs through to hydrocarbon completion reports. Current collection over 1million records with 50,000 new records added per annum. Scanning started in 2002 and is ongoing with new records being scanned and added to the collection.
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Licence: ["The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in an
Evidence quality: 38.9
Listed in data.gov.uk public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- scanned borehole records · scanned trial pit records · scanned shaft records · scanned well records · lithological logs · hydrocarbon completion reports
- Coverage docs-verified
- onshore Great Britain (or near shore)
- Update frequency docs-verified
- continual
- Formats docs-verified
- scanned images (file format not stated)
- Access docs-verified
- Restricted. Copyright vested in NERC; no reproduction or transmission without prior permission of the copyright holder (via BGS IPR Manager). Licence field 'Not set'. No auth listed. Fee not stated.
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Desk study: retrieve historic borehole logs near a site to build a ground model · Foundation and earthworks design: review historic ground conditions from nearby borehole and trial pit records · Hydrogeological assessment: locate historic wells and boreholes for groundwater baseline
- Audience llm-inferred
- geotechnical engineers · civils engineers · hydrogeologists · environmental consultants · GIS analysts
Limitations
- Constraints llm-inferred
- Copyright restricted; reuse requires permission from BGS/NERC · Licence field is 'Not set' in the DOCS, which conflicts with the generic site footer citing OGL v3.0 'except where otherwise stated' · Records are scanned images, not structured data · Collection is onshore Great Britain (or near shore) only · Scanning is ongoing, so the collection is incomplete · No warranty on accuracy or suitability; use is at the customer's own risk · No API or MCP access listed; retrieval is via data.gov.uk download links
Evidence
- https://www.bgs.ac.uk/information-hub/borehole-records/
- https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/568cac3d-a7a7-4700-b551-97aeff34b30d/scanned-images-of-the-bgs-borehole-records-collection
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.