British Borehole Records Spanning Over 1 Million Sites

Over 1 million records of onshore boreholes, trial pits, shafts, and wells are archived by the British Geological Survey, with 50,000 new records added annually. The collection covers Great Britain, with records dating from as early as 1600, though the majority originate from 1900 onwards. Data includes simple lithological logs to detailed hydrocarbon completion reports, sourced from site investigations, urban areas, and transport routes.

Use Cases

• Analyze lithological log distributions across Great Britain to map subsurface geology.
• Study drilling activity concentrations along transport routes and in urban areas from site investigation reports.
• Model temporal trends in borehole creation using records dating from 1600, with a focus on post-1900 data.
• Integrate hydrocarbon completion reports with spatial data for energy resource assessment.

Strengths

• Over 1 million records provide substantial scale for geological analysis.
• Annual addition of 50,000 new records ensures ongoing growth.
• Temporal coverage spans over four centuries, with records from 1600.

Limitations

• Spatial coverage is uneven, concentrated in urban areas and along transport routes, creating geographic bias.
• Record detail varies significantly from single-page logs to extensive reports, complicating uniform analysis.
• Data availability in hard copy or digital formats is subject to confidentiality restrictions.

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS) archives.

Collection Method

Collected from paper, microfilm, or digital records including site investigation reports and donations.

Time Range

1600 onwards, with majority from 1900 onwards.

Freshness

Updated annually with 50,000 new records; last platform update was 2026-03-11.

Geography

Great Britain (onshore and near-shore).