Sign in to view source links and access this dataset
Description
Over 1 million records of boreholes, shafts, and wells across Great Britain form the Single Onshore Borehole Index. The collection dates back to at least 1790, with depths ranging from one to several thousand meters, and approximately 50,000 new records are added annually. Most records contain written descriptions of the ground encountered, though the database, originating in 1988 from merged legacy tables, has inconsistencies in field population.
Use Cases
Historical site assessment based on borehole records dating back to 1790
Subsurface geological modeling using written descriptions of ground conditions
Planning site investigations by locating existing boreholes near a project area
Tracking drilling activity over time using the annual addition of 50,000 records
Strengths
Large scale with over 1 million indexed boreholes, shafts, and wells
Long historical coverage dating back to at least 1790
Regularly updated with approximately 50,000 new records added each year
Limitations
Data quality is inconsistent as fields are not fully populated and data may be misplaced between columns
The database structure, originating from merged legacy tables in 1988, may contain legacy artifacts
The exact number of rows and complete column schema are not specified in the provided metadata
Provenance
Source
British Geological Survey (BGS)
Collection Method
Compiled from digital and analogue records of drilling and site investigation work.
Time Range
1790 to present
Freshness
Last updated 2026-03-26 according to two platform entries.
Geography
Onshore and near shore Great Britain
The index is available via the BGS Geoindex website. Data is provided as an index referencing collections of records, not the full records themselves.