Manuscript estate and parish maps, up to 1850, in the Bodleian Library

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 161 (see below for full shelfmarks)
  • Dates of Creation
      16th century-1850
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
      English, and Latin.
  • Physical Description
      137 shelfmarks

Scope and Content

Listed below are the (pre-1974) counties for which the Bodleian holds a manuscript map, usually depicting a parish or larger area, including estates, gardens and plantations. Oxfordshire and the counties of the South-East are best represented.

  • Bedfordshire (MS. Gough Misc. antiq. 7)
  • Berkshire (Gough Maps 1 & 41a; MS. C17:13; (R) MS. C17:13; MS. Gough Drawings a. 3; ; MS. Rolls Berks. 43; MS. Top. Berks. c. 13 & c. 36; MS. Top. Oxon. c. 123)
  • Buckinghamshire (MS. C17:15; MS. Top. Oxon. c. 123)
  • Cambridgeshire (MS. C17:17; MS. Gough Drawings a. 4; MS. Gough Plans 1; MS. Rolls Camb. 8 & 10-11)
  • Cheshire (MS. Gough Drawings a. 4)
  • Cornwall (MS. C17:21; MS. Top. Cornwall e. 1)
  • Derbyshire (MS. Top. Derby c. 2)
  • Devon (Gough Maps 5; MS. C17:25):
  • Dorset (MS. C17:26; (R) MS. C17:26)
  • Essex (Gough Maps 8 & 41b & 46; MS. C17:28; (R) MS. C17:28 ; MS. DD. Henley Borough A. X; MS. Gough Drawings a. 3-4; MS. Rolls Essex 1 & 9)
  • Gloucestershire (MS. C17:31; MS. Maps Eng. a. 2; MS. Phillips-Robinson c. 659)
  • Hampshire (MS. C17:32; (R) MS. C17:32; MS. Rolls Hants. 44)
  • Herefordshire (MS. Top. Hereford d. 1)
  • Hertfordshire (MS. C17:34; MS. Gough Drawings a. 3-4; MS. Gough Plans 2-3; MS. Maps Herts. a. 1)
  • Huntingdonshire (Gough Northampton 5; MS. Gough Drawings a. 3)
  • Inverness-shire (Gough Maps 40)
  • Kent (Gough Kent 36; Gough Maps 13 & 41C; MS. C17:36; MS. D.D. Dashwood (Bucks) d. 5; MS. Maps Kent b. 1; MS. Top. Kent c. 12)
  • Leicestershire (MS. Top. Oxon. b. 39)
  • London and Middlesex (Arch A d. 1; Dep. a.34; Gough London 134; Gough Maps 13 & 18-23 & 41D, F-G, L; Gough Maps London 24; Gough Maps Middlesex 8-10 & 43; MS. C17:70; MS. C17:70 London; (R) MS. C17:45; MS. Gough Drawings a. 3-4; MS. Gough Gen. Top. 29; MS. Gough Plans 6. A)
  • Norfolk (Gough Maps 24; MS. Gough Drawings a. 3-4; MS. Gough Norfolk 31 & 45)
  • Northamptonshire (C17:46 e.1; MS. C17:46; MS. Gough Drawings a. 4; MS. Gough Northants. 5; MS. Maps Northants. 1; MS. Rolls Northants. 3; MS. Top. Northants. a. 1)
  • Northumberland (MS. Northumberland Rolls 2)
  • Nottinghamshire (MS. C17:48; MS. Top. Notts. a. 2)
  • Oxford and Oxfordshire (Dep. a. 2, 21 & 31; Gough Maps 27; MS. C17:49; (R) MS. C17:49; MS. C17:70 Oxford; MS. Charters Oxon. a. 63; MS. Dep. a. 4 & 7(R); (R) MS. Dep C17:49; MS. DD. Redesdale 1. c. 2; (R); MS. Don. b. 36; MS. Gough Drawings a. 4; MS. Gough Oxon. 5 & 15; MS. Maps Oxon. a. 1-2 & 25 b. 3; MS. North adds d. 1; MS. Top. Northants. a. 1; MS. Rolls Oxon. 103; MS. Top. Oxon. a. 24, 39, & 63, c. 123 & 300, d. 502 & 662, e. 79 & 285; MS. Top. Oxon. a. 3, a. 41. (R)
  • Shropshire (MS. C17:53)
  • Somerset (MS. C17:54; (R) MS. C17:54; MS. Gough Plans 9)
  • Staffordshire (Gough Stafford 12; (R) MS. C17:55; MS. Maps Staffs. b. 1)
  • Stirlingshire (MS. Radcliffe Trust b. 3)
  • Suffolk (Gough Maps 41; Gough Suffolk 7; MS. C17:56; MS. Gough Drawings a. 3; MS. Gough Plans 11; MS. Rawl. D. 1481; MS. Rolls Suffolk 26)
  • Surrey (Gough Maps 30; MS. Gough Drawings a. 3; MS. Gough Plans 12; MS. Maps Eng. a. 2; MS. Rawl. D. 1481)
  • Sussex (Gough Maps Sussex 6; MS. C17:58; (R) MS. C17:58; MS. Gough Drawings a. 2; MS. Gough Gen. Top. 29; MS. Maps Sussex a. 1; MS. Top. Sussex d. 2)
  • Warwickshire (Gough Maps Warwickshire 6; MS. Top. Warw. e. 2)
  • Wiltshire (MS. C17:61; (R) MS. C17:61; MS. Gough Drawings a. 3; MS. Top. Wilts. c. 2; )
  • Worcestershire (MS. Phillips-Robinson. c. 659)
  • Yorkshire (MS. Gough Drawings a. 3-4; MS. Rawl. B. 456; MS. Top. Yorks. a. 2).

For details on individual maps please refer to Nigel James' list (see 'Finding Aids' below), which, where known, records the following information: map title, map surveyor, date (usually of survey), scale, source, and shelfmark. This list also contains information on relevant printed maps.

The shelfmarks of the maps are as follows: Arch A d. 1; C17:46 e. 1; Dep. a. 2, 21, 31 & 34; Gough Kent 36; Gough London 134; Gough Northampton 5; Gough Maps 1, 5, 8, 13, 18-24, 27, 30, 40, 41, 46; Gough Maps London 24 ; Gough Maps Middlesex 8-10 & 43; Gough Maps Sussex 6; Gough Maps Warwickshire 6; Gough Stafford 12; Gough Suffolk 7; MS. C17:13, 15, 17, 21, 25-6, 28, 31-2, 34, 36, 46, 48-9, 53-4, 56, 58, 61 & 70; (R) MS. C17:13, 26, 28, 32, 45, 49, 54-5, 58 & 61; MS. Charters Oxon. a. 63; MS. DD. Dashwood (Bucks) d. 5; MS. DD. Henley Borough A. X; (R) MS. DD. Redesdale 1. c. 2; (R) MS. Dep. a. 4 & 7; MS. Don. b. 36; MS. Gough Drawings a. 2-4; MS. Gough Gen. Top. 29; MS. Gough Misc. antiq. 7; MS. Gough Norfolk 31 & 45; MS. Gough Northants. 5; MS. Gough Oxon. 5 & 15; MS. Gough Plans 1-3, 6, 9 & 11-12; MS. Maps Eng. a. 2; MS. Maps Herts. a. 1; MS. Maps Kent b. 1; MS. Maps Northants. 1; MS. Maps Oxon. a. 1-2 & 25, b. 3; MS. Maps Staffs. b. 1; MS. Maps Sussex a. 1; MS. North adds d. 1; MS. Top. Northants. a. 1; MS. Northumberland Rolls 2; MS. Phillips-Robinson c. 659; MS. Radcliffe Trust b. 3; MSS. Rawl. B. 456, D. 1481; MS. Rolls Berks. 43; MS. Rolls Camb. 8 & 10-11; MS. Rolls Essex 1; MS. Rolls Hants. 44; MS. Rolls Northants. 3; MS. Rolls Oxon. 103; MS. Rolls Suffolk 26; MS. Top. Berks. c. 13 & 36; MS. Top. Cornwall e. 1; MS. Top. Derby c. 2; MS. Top. Hereford d. 1; MS. Top. Kent c. 12; MS. Top. Northants. a. 1; MS. Top. Notts. a. 2; MS. Top. Oxon. a. 24, 39 & 63, b. 39, c. 123 & 300, d. 502 & 662, e. 79 & 285; MS. Top. Sussex d. 2; MS. Top. Warw. e. 2; MS. Top. Wilts. c. 2; MS. Top. Yorks. a. 2; (R) MS. Top. Oxon. a. 3, a. 41.

Administrative / Biographical History

The Bodleian does not possess a distinct collection of estate and parish maps; such maps may be found amongst privately deposited papers. The Gough collection (MSS. Gough) is particularly rich in map material; Richard Gough (1735-1809) was an antiquary, see the Dictionary of National Biography for details.

Access Information

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk).

Note

Collection level description created by Susan Thomas, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts.

Other Finding Aids

Nigel James 'A select list of parish and estate maps, up to 1850, held at the Bodleian Library, Oxford', 1996, revised 2004. The list is available, as a PDF document, online at http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/guides/maps/maplist3.pdf [requires the free Acrobat reader]

Related Material

The Gough Collection (MSS. Gough); various topographical collections (MSS. Top. [county]; MSS. Rolls. [county]).