DR CHAPTER 02 31/8/06 16:45 Page 1
Chapter 2
County Maps
F
rom around 1550-1850 the county was used bibliography 1579-1870 (1927, 1966, 1977);
as the basis for mapping the divisions of
Britain, and maps were often published in the R.A. Skelton County Atlases of the British Isles
form of a county atlas. Well over 100 separate 1579-1850 (1964-8) and County Atlases of the
maps exist for most counties, as well as district maps British Isles 1579-1703 (1970); and
covering areas such as the environs of a city.
Elizabeth M. Rodger The Large Scale County
The value of the county map is in its depiction of Maps of the British Isles 1596-1850 (1960, 1972,
the changing landscape over almost 500 years, and 1980).
will inevitably reveal a great number of sites where
people lived, worked and played in the past. To all intents and purposes there are no county
maps before the reign of Elizabeth I. Laurence Now-
Some care is needed with interpretation, though, ell produced some hand-drawn county maps from
as these maps are effectively drawings not photo- 1563 but it was the work of Christopher Saxton, in
graphs, and as such errors and omissions will be England and Wales, from 1574-79 that laid the foun-
inevitable. Don’t be too surprised if the building, for dations for such regional maps. There followed a
instance, that you think should be there at a certain flurry of similar maps from his contemporaries of
date isn’t shown on the map, or is in the wrong place, whom the most notable were John Norden, William
or appears at the wrong date. Smith, and Philip Symonson in England and Timothy
Pont in Scotland, which led to the publication of John
Everything may have been as you expected it to be Speed’s atlas Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain
but the mapmaker - for whatever reason - may not (1611).
have seen it that way.
John Speed’s atlas, the first published atlas of the
While your local library or archives will probably British Isles, has been partly reprinted (1953) in four
be able to produce a list of county maps there are sev- volumes edited by J. Arlott. Speed’s maps, however,
eral bibliographies covering the country. are available in modestly priced single sheet facsimi-
les on antiqued paper produced by The Old Map
It is worth researching: Company.
Thomas Chubb The Printed Maps in the
Atlases of Great Britain and Ireland: a
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