Explorative Mapping : Dissecting the O.S

In order to better understand a particular place O.S maps can be used to identify particular elements and features that exist in the landscape. The information that can be extracted from O.S maps include both man made and natural features, boundary, settlement and thoroughfare. By extracting each feature it is possible to understand the different elements that make up the landscape and their relationship between each other. 

The backwaters north of Walton-on-Naze is an area of tidal creeks, mud flats and salt marshes; protected by a spit of land they form a delicate boundary between the land and the North Sea. At first glance this baron landscape appears naturally formed. The organic forms of the mudflats are created through the constant ebb and flow of the tide however this landscape is contained by a series of sea walls, reinforced banks, and tidal gates. The man made elements that are depicted on the O.S map all have an effect on the formation of the landscape and therefore suggest the delicate ecology that exists in the backwaters is entirely managed by man.