LiDAR terrain shading of Maiden Castle, an Iron Age hillfort in Dorset: its rings of ramparts stand out clearly.

Shadowmark Maps

See the shape of the land. Shadowmark Maps puts national LiDAR terrain shading on one map, so banks, ditches, mounds and old roads stand out: hillforts, barrows, Roman roads, deserted villages and field systems that are hard to see on the ground or in aerial photos.

It's made for people who explore landscape history and archaeology, and for detectorists who research their permissions and want to stay within the law. For iPhone and Android phones.

Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.

See the app

Tap a screen to see it full size. Swipe sideways for more.

The app showing Maiden Castle's ramparts in the Pro Combined view, with the Scheduled Monument tinted red.

Pro Combined view: the ramparts of Maiden Castle

The app showing free national LiDAR shading around Gergovie in France, in the Standard view.

Free LiDAR shading in France, around Gergovie

The app warning that the user is on a Scheduled Monument, Maiden Castle, where detecting, digging or removing objects without Historic England's consent is a criminal offence.

The warning when you are on a Scheduled Monument

The app showing banks and old tracks under woodland in the Pro Detail view.

Pro Detail view: banks and old tracks under woodland

The app tilted into 3D over Whitehorse Hill near Uffington Castle, with a Scheduled Monument outlined in red.

3D terrain on Whitehorse Hill, Uffington (Pro)

The app's search listing places called Avebury, with the Avebury henge outlined on the map.

Place search that works offline (Avebury)

The app offline, with a banner saying saved areas, search, finds and alerts still work, and an area around Maiden Castle saved for offline use.

No signal: saved areas, search, finds and alerts still work

Free

National LiDAR shading for England, France, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Czechia, Norway, Wallonia (Belgium) and three German states: Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony.
Scheduled Monuments in England marked in red, with a warning when your GPS position is on or within 50 m of one, even with the red layer hidden.
Your GPS position on the map, and a compass with a heading-up mode.
Place search that works without a signal: places, rivers and postcode districts in Great Britain, towns and cities worldwide, OS grid references and coordinates.
A private finds log: photos, notes, position and OS grid reference for each find, kept only on your phone, with PDF and CSV export.
One offline area: save up to 25 km² of LiDAR, base map and monument outlines, and use it with no signal.
An OpenStreetMap base map, or satellite imagery when you have a signal.
Share any view as an image with a data credit, and three 60-second Pro peeks a week.

Shadowmark Pro

Shade, Detail, Relief, Sky-view and Combined views for all of England, computed from the Environment Agency's 1 m LiDAR terrain model. Small banks, ditches and pits stand out.
3D terrain.
A3 print export of the area around the map centre (England).
Unlimited offline areas, which also keep the Pro view you're using.

UK prices: £5.99 a month, £39.99 a year (with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers) or £119.99 once for lifetime Pro. You buy through the App Store or Google Play, and subscriptions renew until you cancel. The terms have the details.

Use it responsibly

Get the landowner's permission, never detect or dig on a Scheduled Monument, report potential Treasure, and follow the Code of Practice for Responsible Metal Detecting. The app shows these rules when you first open it. Monument outlines are a guide and cover England only. Read the rules in full.

Privacy

No account, no ads and no tracking. Your location and your finds stay on your phone. See the privacy policy.

Where the data comes from

National mapping and environment agencies and other open-data publishers, among them the Environment Agency, IGN, USGS, Natural Resources Canada, swisstopo and Historic England, plus OpenStreetMap contributors. The data and licences page lists every source and its licence.