Status of the Shire Hall Public Map Room: OPEN.
When the status is showing as 'open' , the Map Room is available for use during normal office hours on the below basis. If we have to close the Map Room, the above will state "currently closed" and will not be available. You should therefore check the current status on the day of your visit to avoid any wasted journey.
We request the following:
We may need to close the Map Room at short notice; any such closure will be shown on this page. Thank you.
Information regarding the 'List of Streets' publicly maintainable highway network is not available online on the County Council website. However, the highway records maps are available for public inspection in the public map room, accessed from main reception at Shire Hall, Westgate Street, Gloucester (GL1 2TG for sat nav). The map room is open during main reception opening hours (8.30am - 5pm, Monday - Friday).
A guidance leaflet on how to use the resources is available: map room user guide.
If you need assistance when in the Map Room, you may phone us from the phone in the room; however, we may not be able to immediately assist you if the appropriate member of staff isn't located on site. If you wish to make an appointment to meet a member of staff to see either the Road Records or Public Rights of Way information, please contact us beforehand: highwayrecords@gloucestershire.gov.uk or prow@gloucestershire.gov.uk. Please note that fees may apply for the provision of some information/copies (depending on your query).
The highway 'road network' maps and the associated List of Streets are the basis for the maintenance of the highway network, which is carried out by the county council (as the local highway authority). The maps are kept in a number of large volumes of Ordnance Survey sheets, split into the following geographical areas: Stroud, Forest, Northern, North Cotswold, South Cotswold, Gloucester City and Cheltenham Borough. They show all the publicly maintainable highways in the County, mostly at a scale of 1:10,000; although some larger scale maps are available for urban areas.
You can tell whether a route is classified (A/class 1, B/class 2, and C/class 3) or unclassified (classes 4 and 5) and its highway number. In addition, class 6 highways are shown - these are defined as being maintainable for "non-wheeled traffic" and include the pedestrian routes within modern housing estates. Please note that cycleways are recorded as Class 5(c) highways.
Please note that the Cheltenham and Gloucester maps do not show the classifications of highways; however, if required, this information can be requested from Highway Records.
Newly constructed roads and paths will not be included on the maps until they have been 'adopted' by the county council. A list of highways that have been recently adopted, but are not yet shown on the maps, can be found in the "Roadways, Footways and Footpaths" section on our Information for Personal Searchers page.
For a view of the whole publicly maintainable highway network across the county, the highway maps should be viewed together with the definitive maps of Public Rights of Way, which are kept in the same public map area.
Geoplace (who coordinate the National Street Gazetteer) have published online the status of Streets (where available) for the whole of England & Wales. The "Map" section will allow you to identify whether any recorded Street is "publicly maintainable", "prospectively maintainable" (i.e. under agreement for adoption), "privately maintainable" or "mixed responsibility". It is, however, very important to note that the information held is not "live", it may be up to 1-1.5 months old and so should be used with caution (particularly for the prospectively, privately, and mixed categories). External Link: https://www.findmystreet.co.uk/
Unlike the Definitive Maps of Public Rights of Way, the Road Records are not 'conclusive evidence as to what they contain' because they were not submitted for local consultation when they were compiled in the 1930's. In addition, the small scale of the maps means that they cannot be used for determining the status of small areas or strips of land. Enquiries about the full width and/or length of the publicly maintainable highway will therefore involve research and evaluation of our highway records, early Ordnance Survey information and other documents held by the County Archivist and elsewhere; it may also require a site inspection to be carried out. We are happy to carry out this research on your behalf - details of our charges and how to apply are below.
Such supplied highway extent information will be provided on an Ordnance Survey map base, which is subject to OS copyright. It will also be provided on a 'general boundaries' basis (similarly to Land Registry plans), due to OS mapping tolerances.
Ditches: In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the publicly maintainable highway is generally considered to extend from boundary to boundary, whether that be a ditch, fence, hedge, wall, etc. Ditches that run alongside a highway generally do not form part of the publicly maintainable highway (since they do not assist the free passage along the highway), and the common law presumption in the absence of rebutting evidence, is that they are the responsibility of the adjoining (riparian) landowner or occupier, and the highway boundary lies on the highway side of the ditch. Although, the Highway Authority does have the statutory right to use such ditches for highway drainage, and where ditches have been acquired or culverted/piped by the Highway Authority for highway purposes, the land is likely to have been brought into the highway.
It must also be noted as a matter of highway law that only a Court can issue a definitive interpretation on matters of highway status and extent.
Please note that Motorways and the Trunk Road network come under the jurisdiction of National Highways; therefore although we can advise our understanding of the extent of highway for these roads, you may wish to confirm the position with National Highways.
Please also note we can only supply information regarding properties within the Administrative area of Gloucestershire. We do not cover the Authority area of South Gloucestershire, and not all GL postcodes lie in Gloucestershire.
Please see below for methods of submission and payment.
If you require information for any/all of the following set of questions, you can apply online using the "Submit new enquiry & Pay" link below:
If your enquiry falls outside of the above, or if you require a quote for 'extent of highway ' lengths over 200m (or over 100m for Utility Company enquiries), you cannot use the online form. Instead, please see below regarding 'can I submit my enquiry in writing?'.
If your enquiry is not listed above and/or you are not able to apply/pay online, you can either email or write to us at:
If you have been provided with a tailored quote and a unique "QHR" reference for your enquiry, please click the "Pay now (using QHR Ref)" link. Please select the "Highway Records" service (unless advised otherwise), add the supplied QHR reference into the "Reference" box on the form, and do not include the £-sign in the amount box.
Please do not use this link if you do not have a specific QHR reference.
If you have been provided with a tailored quote and a unique "QHR" reference for your enquiry, please click the "Pay now (using QHR Ref)" link. Please select the "Highway Records" service (unless advised otherwise), add the supplied QHR reference into the "Reference" box on the form, and do not include the £-sign in the amount box.
Please do not use this link if you do not have a specific QHR reference.
Please click the below "Submit new enquiry and pay" link and enter your details and the location of your enquiry. Please select "Other Highway Information" when prompted, and you will then be directed to select which questions you wish to ask.
Details of our individual charges will not be listed on the online form, but can be found in the 'Charges' section above. Please ensure you have read them so you are aware of the likely total charge. You will, however, be able to review the cost of your order before being passed to our payment services partner, Capita, who will securely process your card details.
NB: Please do not use this form for requests involving lengths of highway over 200m. In this instance, please email highwayrecords@gloucestershire.gov.uk.
Please also note you will be required to upload a location plan (less than 10mb size) in order to submit your enquiry online.
Please allow the payment process to fully complete before moving away from the order page. Following online submission and/or payment you will receive 2 confirmation emails (one from us and one from our payment services partner). If you do not receive these within 2 hours of submission, please email highwayrecords@gloucestershire.gov.uk for advice.
Please click the below "Submit new enquiry and pay" link and enter your details and the location of your enquiry. Please select "Other Highway Information" when prompted, and you will then be directed to select which questions you wish to ask.
Details of our individual charges will not be listed on the online form, but can be found in the 'Charges' section above. Please ensure you have read them so you are aware of the likely total charge. You will, however, be able to review the cost of your order before being passed to our payment services partner, Capita, who will securely process your card details.
NB: Please do not use this form for requests involving lengths of highway over 200m. In this instance, please email highwayrecords@gloucestershire.gov.uk.
Please also note you will be required to upload a location plan (less than 10mb size) in order to submit your enquiry online.
Please allow the payment process to fully complete before moving away from the order page. Following online submission and/or payment you will receive 2 confirmation emails (one from us and one from our payment services partner). If you do not receive these within 2 hours of submission, please email highwayrecords@gloucestershire.gov.uk for advice.
For enquiries submitted in writing (by email or post) we offer the below additional payment options:
Please make cheques payable to “Gloucestershire County Council”, and send to Highway Records, Gloucestershire County Council, Shire Hall, Gloucester. GL1 2TH, together with clear details of the location and information required.
Please make cheques payable to “Gloucestershire County Council”, and send to Highway Records, Gloucestershire County Council, Shire Hall, Gloucester. GL1 2TH, together with clear details of the location and information required.
Please state that you wish to pay by invoice when submitting your enquiry.
You must also provide your GCC Vendor account number, your full company name & postal address, and (if required) your Purchase Order.
Please note that invoices are payable immediately on receipt, and payment should not be sent without referencing our official “1800…” invoice number.
Please state that you wish to pay by invoice when submitting your enquiry.
You must also provide your GCC Vendor account number, your full company name & postal address, and (if required) your Purchase Order.
Please note that invoices are payable immediately on receipt, and payment should not be sent without referencing our official “1800…” invoice number.
Please note we will only agree to set your company up for paying by invoice if you're likely to submit multiple enquiries; it cannot be used for one-off payments.
Please state that you wish to be set up to be able to pay by invoice when submitting your enquiry. We can then supply the appropriate forms and arrange for a credit check (if necessary), for you to proceed.
Please note that the enquiry will only be processed once you have been set up, and it can take a couple of weeks to set up a new Vendor on our systems.
Please note we will only agree to set your company up for paying by invoice if you're likely to submit multiple enquiries; it cannot be used for one-off payments.
Please state that you wish to be set up to be able to pay by invoice when submitting your enquiry. We can then supply the appropriate forms and arrange for a credit check (if necessary), for you to proceed.
Please note that the enquiry will only be processed once you have been set up, and it can take a couple of weeks to set up a new Vendor on our systems.
On receipt of your written enquiry or online order, we will assess your request and be in touch if we have any immediate queries or require payment of any [additional] fee. Otherwise, we ordinarily aim to provide a substantive response within approximately 20 working days (although this may increase during very busy periods).
UPDATE 11 September 2025: Unfortunately, we will be short-staffed for the next few weeks and our current turnaround is approximately 5-6 weeks. We are replying to queries in chronological order and we will likely be unable to deal with any urgent requests.
Please see our Con29 pages for more information about this service, our charges and how to apply online.