Maps can be used with census returns and population statistics and county and town directories to build up a picture of the development of an area.

Map of Surrey c1750 (SHC Ref M/120/1)

Before the Ordnance Survey's commission to map the whole of Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries there was no uniformity in map making. A few detailed very early maps exist for some towns, villages and estates but you would be lucky to find one for your area. The very earliest published maps were privately printed for a comparatively small market. They often show only what was of interest to the person or organization commissioning the map.

Click here to see a variety of map based activities for use in the classroom.

Section of map of Surrey showing towns, villages, hamlets, rivers, bridges, hills, roads and beacons, attributed to William Smith, engraved by Joducus Hondius. c1665 (SHC Ref M/150)

Have your say