About our maps

The London Orchard Project has been building maps for three categories of orchards in London:

What’s the point of these maps?

The maps aim to show orchards in London today, and highlights our historic orchard heritage. Through the map, we are hoping to:

  • Get a sense of how many orchards there are in London, and how much fruit they are producing.
  • Identify fruit trees that are currently un-harvested; and
  • Identify old orchard sites for restoration.

We are also interested in gathering biodiversity data with this map. This is to continue the work the lovely people at The People’s Trust for Endangered Species have been gathering on biodiversity data on Traditional Orchards in London in the context of their national Traditional Orchards survey. Find out more about this excellent work see the results of the survey so far.

If you are interested in helping us to help survey orchards for wildlife, then kath [at] thelondonorchardproject [dot] org (email us) to request a pack and let us know which orchard you are interested in surveying.

Where is the data from?

The data comes from a study that was commissioned by the GLA in Spring 2011 in the context of the Re-Leaf Partnership. The data was collated from several sources, including:

  • Ordnance Survey maps of 1894-97.
  • The People’s Trust for Endangered Species Traditional Orchard Survey that was based on Ordnance Survey Data.
  • Interviews with biodiversity officers and other folk engaged in orchard activity in London.

Thank you to Natural England for arranging our End User License to use this data.

How reliable is the data?

Reliable-ish. Some of the data is from aerial photography, some of it from old biodiversity surveys. We’re therefore not entirely sure it’s accurate…hence we’re hoping you may be able to help!

How can I get involved?

We would like you to help populate and improve the accuracy of this map. Start by creating a user account. Once you have logged in using your account:

  • Know of an orchard that’s not on the map? Go to Create Orchard.
  • Know something we don’t know about an orchard on the map? From the Current orchards map, select on orchard, click on Details and then Edit. After updating the details click on Save at the bottom of the page.
  • Were we wrong? See a data point on the map that’s not actually an orchard? Click on Details, Edit and then Delete to remove it.

For each new or amended orchard, you’ll be able to upload information on the trees, their condition, the fruit and so on. We’re also curious to know when’s a good time to come and harvest and how good the fruit tastes!... If you have pictures to upload, that would also be great.

What’s an orchard?

At least 5 fruit or nut trees, with crown edges less than 20 metres apart (link to) See full Habitat Action Plan for a definition. Lone trees don’t qualify for this map!

I am a landlord and the orchard on your map is on my private site. I do not want this information on the map.

Not a problem, we’ll hide the data point from the map. Either orchard [at] thelondonorchardproject [dot] org (contact us) or sign in, edit the orchard and select the appropriate option to remove the data point from the map.


How do I find the latitude and longitude of an orchard?

Simply find the location of the orchard on Google Maps, right click with your mouse (or on a Mac press and hold the Ctrl button and click) over the location and select "What's here?". This will drop a location marker onto the map. If you click on this it will tell you the latitude (the first number) and longitude (the second). The following images demonstrate this:

[menu][location marker]

Note that Goggle Maps use what is called "WGS84" coordinates, which are different from ordinance survey map Northing and Eastings.

Who to thank for this work?

Thank you to the Heritage Lottery Fund and the RE-Leaf Partnership for their financial support for this project. Thank you to the PTES and LandUse Consultants for their technical expertise to identify the sites, and to Chris our web expert for developing the online resource.

Where can I go for more information?

If you would like to find out more about the Re-Leaf partnership, visit Re-Leaf London.

If you would like to get involved in biodiversity surveying please visit PTES.