notes Avery 1721

Research Notes

Map Group AVERY 1721

Avery 1721

Chart, the Sea Coasts from Arundel to St Albans, including The Solent and coast of Hampshire, surveyed for the Admiralty, by Joseph Avery, London, 1721.The chart has been studied from a microfilm negative and large print positive; the original item is in the Hydrographic Office collection, Admiralty Library, item VE44.

The chart size can only be estimated from the microfilm: wxh, map = 115x63cm roughly. Neither the print or the microfilm itself, gives a clear image and some readings of labels and text may be wrong. The most uncertain readings are marked, as usual, by being in square brackets; BUT square brackets are also used to mark inferred information.

MAP FEATURES

HAMPSHIRE TOWNS

SAILING DIRECTIONS AND TIDES

The chart was the main source used by Jacques Nicholas Bellin as a source for his chart, published by the Depot de la Marine, Paris, France, 1762.

related map group -- Bellin 1762

A detailed comparison would be very interesting. Only a few comparisons are made here, as I feel uncertain about the information from this chart.

MAP FEATURES

title cartouche
scroll cartouche
map maker
engraver

Printed upper left of centre is a cartouche of foliage scrolls decorated with dolphins, globe, musical instruments, etc. Britannia sits on the right with a spear and a shield with the Union Flag upon it. And there is a badge with a fisherman's anchor. This reads:-

An Exact DRAUGHT (BEING AN ACTUAL SURVEY) of the SEA COAST from ARUNDEL in SUSSEX, to ST ALBANS in Com~ DORSET. Shewing all the Sands, Shoals, Beacons, Buoys, Sea-marks, Soundings, Bays, Harbours, Havens, Rivers, Creeks, Streams &c.with the time of High Water, setting of the Tides, and particular directions for Sailing in, at each End of the ISLE of WIGHT, and the respective Harbours herein contain'd. most humbly Dedicated to the Rt. Honble. the Lords of the Admiralty, and Survey's by Order of the Government. By my Lords, Your Lordships most humble & obedient Servant Jos: Avery.

Printed below the cartouche:-

Eman: Bowen Sculpt.

Printed below the tide cartouche upper right:-

Sold by Willm. Mount & Thomas Page on Tower Hill

scale line
scale

Printed upper right of centre is:-

A Scale of Miles

chequered and labelled in miles; 8 miles long. Notice that these are nautical miles, each is 1 latitude degree long. The scale of the chart is about 1.5 nautical miles to 1 inch.

orientation
compass rose
up is N
rhumb lines

Printed in the two lower corners of the chart are quarter compass roses; circle, star points for cardinal, half cardinal, false and by points, North marked by a fleur de lys. The chart is printed with North at the top of the sheet.
Rhumb lines are drawn across sea areas from these two centres; solid lines for each of the directions listed.

lat and long scales
lat and long grid

Printed in the chart borders are scales of latitude and longitude for a ?rectangular projection; chequered at 1 minute intervals, labelled at 5 minute intervals. A graticule, latitude and longitude grid, is drawn at 5 minute intervals. The minutes of longitude and those of latitude are about the same size; which does not produce a 'square' plot.
The prime meridian for the chart is though Southampton, in the middle of the plot; the chart includes from 33m W to 34m E of Southampton, 50d 28m to 51d 4m N. The chart includes the whole of the Isle of Wight; the coast of Dorset from St Albans Head and Poole; the coast of Hampshire including the Solent and Southampton Water; and the coast of West Sussex as far as Arundel.

sea plain
depth soundings
sandbanks
foreshore
sea marks

The sea area is plain, with some areas labelled, eg:-

Spit Head

Hayling Bay

Stokes Bay

BRITISH CHANEL

Depth soundings in fathoms, and halves or quarters as required, are marked across the seas, continued in channels and into harbours, and up river estuaries.
Sandbanks, other shallows, and foreshore are marked in various ways, and might be labelled with a name, or a description with how it changes with the tide. Off the Hampshire coast are, modern spellings:-

Christchurch Ledge - Christchurch Head ie Hengistbury to south of the Shingles

Shingles - with rocks marked at the west end

The Bridge - continuing the ledge across the Needles Channel

Bramble

Middle

unlabelled bank in Stokes Bay

Spit Sand, unlabelled

Horse and Dean Sand, unlabelled

Shoals are marked in several ways:-

dotted line

does not appear to be a depth contour, outlines an area, perhaps labelled, eg:-

Christ Church Ledge

dotted area

more densely dotted at edge, a shoal, perhaps labelled, eg:-

Brambles

This might have an outline within it, perhaps with more labelling, eg:-

Shingles is a [large S ]ing of Gravel. Sometimes this part is dry at low Water & sometimes very little is dry, it depending very much on ye Wind.

Off the west end of the Shingles is labelled:-

Chalk Rocks

shaded area

outlined, mostly foreshore, and sometimes labelled as ooze, eg:-

All this part Oze, which begins to dry at the Ebb and are all dry at low Water

between Lymington and Calshot.

shaded and dotted

wider shading with dots between, outlined, mostly foreshore, and sometimes labelled as sand, eg:-

Sand, dry at low Water

at Stubington, and also occurs in the middle of the Bramble.

buoys
leading lines
wrecks
anchorages

Buoys are marked, they look like conical buoys, and might be labelled, for example, for the eastern approach to the Solent:-

Warner Buoy

Dean Buoy

Horse Buoy

Nomansland Buoy

and at the south east end of Spit Sand, the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour:-

Spit Buoy

A buoy labelled:-

Edger Buoy

marks the wreck of HMS Edgar, which blew up and sank, 1711.
A post with something on top, a sea mark, is marked at the end of the Lymington River channel, labelled:-

Jack in the [Books]

better known as jack in the Basket.
Anchorages might be labelled, for example in Spit Head:-

Anchoring Ground

but have no symbol.
Leading lines are drawn, perhaps corresponding to sailing directions, for a line of the east end of the Isle of Wight, off Bembridge Ledge, is labelled:-

Sandown Fort open with Culver Clifs

and for the eastern approach to Spit Head:-

The Kickers in one and the mark upon Ashedown touching

coast line
coast appearance
harbours
headlands

The coast line is drawn with shading or hachures on the inland side to suggest low land, or with rocks to show cliffs. Some areas of cliffs might be labelled, eg:-

Stubington Cliffs

The large harbours of Langstone, Portsmouth, etc can all be recognised, as can smaller harbours down to:-

Camber

labelled by Hurst Castle.
Headlands like:-

Stans Ore Point

might be labelled. But not all, for instance Christchurch Head, referred to by sailing directions, has no label.
Channels in the foreshore might be named, eg:-

Oxsey Lake

Limington Creek

The spit at Calshot is labelled:-

Lands end

coastal defence
castles
fortifications

Hampshire coastal defence castles are noticed:-

Hurst Castle

Calshot Castle

[Nolly] Castle

Old Castle [St Andrews Castle, ruins]

Castle [at Portchester]

[fortifications, Portsmouth]

South Sea Castle

rivers
bridges
ferries

Rivers are clearly drawn all along the coast. The estuary shaded on the inland side, with a channel marked through foreshore ooze, sometimes depth soundings, ... The river might be labelled with a name or where it came from, eg:-

up to Blandford [Stour]

up to Salisbury [Avon]

R. Bowley [Beaulieu]

to Rumsey [Test]

up to Winchester [Itchen]

Hamble River

Note that Jacques Bellin's translation of the River Bowley, mispelt by today's measure, is Beauley.
Bridges are recognisable where a road crosses and interrupts a stream, and might be labelled, eg:-

Ivy Bridge [Iford]

Hermitage Br. [at Emsworth]

Or a bridge might be drawn and labelled, without the approach roads, eg:-

Boulder Bridge

At Warsash the:-

Ferry

is labelled. In other places the layout of roads approaching a river from each side suggests there might have been a ferry.

relief
hillocks
hill hachuring
sea marks

Some relief is indicated by drawings of hills, in the style of hillocks but using shading lines like hachures. There might be a label, eg:-

Post Downs [Portsdown]

Bevose Hill [at Southampton]

Highland of Ballard [south of Poole]

and north of Chichester there is a large hillock with a road in a valley:-

Large White Way up the Hill

which was presumably a sea mark.

woods
forests
trees
vegetation

Wooded areas are shown by tree symbols, and might be labelled:-

Kings Forrest

on the Isle of Wight. On the mainland most woodland is marked along the shore, as is usual for charts.
Either side of Ports Creek at the north of Portsea Island are areas labelled:-

Marsh Ground

These are Farlington Marshes. Other marsh areas are labelled, as are:-

Morasse

at Southsea

Furze or Common Ground

at south east of Hayling Island

Arable Land

at Christchurch, etc.

county

County boundaries are not shown, but county areas are labelled, eg:-

PART OF DORSETSHIRE

HAMPSHIRE

The 'part of' referring to how much coast is shown.

settlements
street map
sea marks

Settlements are shown by perspective drawings of little houses, and churches, laid out on a street plan. These are very attractive when looked at closely; Lymington and Fawley are good examples. The size of the place is shown realistically (?); labelling text is differentiated but may not match.

city

houses and church; labelled in upright block caps, eg:-

CHICHESTER

which is laid out with four quarters of buildings within a town wall, and a church, and strip development of houses along the four roads from the town.

town

houses and church; labelled in upright block caps or lowercase text, eg:-

PORTSMOUTH

Southampto~

Limington

Farham [italic]

village

one or two houses, or a street of houses, perhaps a church; labelled in italic lowercase text, eg:-

Hamble

Itching

house

Some houses are noticed, drawn nicely, eg:-

The Ld. Montagues House

at Beaulieu

church

Churches are specifically labelled along the coast, they are presumably good sea marks, eg:-

Bedhampton Church

Warblington Church

drawn as a building with a tower.

roads

A network of roads is drawn by double lines. These do not connect all across the coastal area. Some roads have destinations marked, eg:-

Road to London [at Southampton, Fareham, Cosham]

Road to Titchfield [at Fareham]

Road to Chichester [beyond Emsworth]

miscellaneous

shipyards

On the Beaulieu River there is a label:-

Ship building place

which is Bucklers Hard. There are two (more?) other labels:-

Building place

which may be shipyards. One at Beaulieu, on the east bank; one on the Hamble River well above Bursledon (as marked).
On Portsea Island the:-

Kings Dock

is labelled, but without any special drawing or fortifications.

breweries

At a number of places there is a:-

Brew House

for example at Gosport and on Stokes Bay.

brickworks

In a number of places a:-

Brick Kiln

is labelled. For example up the River Hamble from Hamble village.

salterns
windmills

Along the shore between Lymington and Milford are small buildings labelled:-

s.h.

a note printed below the descriptions of tides tells us:-

N.B. the Letters s.h. where ever they occur stand for Salt Houses.

There are numerous windmills, drawn as post mills, with the salterns. On Portsea Island, north east coast, are:-

Salt Pans

canals

The chart around Hillhead (Helhead) shows a channel across the foreshore ooze just west of the settlement, stopping at the coast, and a river further north west continuing inland, labelled:-

to Titchfield

the River Meon. Between the village and the river, on land, is a shaded area labelled:-

Breech up to Do.

One of these features is the Titchfield Canal.

iron works

The stream at Sowley has two interesting labels:-

up to ye Iron Mines

Soley hard

There are other mines at Milford.

quarries
sea marks

On Portsdown the:-

Chalk Hole

quarry is clearly drawn as a sea mark.

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HAMPSHIRE TOWNS

Of the usual 21 Hampshire towns the chart shows:-

Christ Church

Farham

Gosport

Havant

Limington

Portsmouth

Southampto~

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SAILING

DIRECTIONS AND TIDES

Printed in a foliage cartouche upper left are sailing directions for harbours on the chart. Relevant to Hampshire are:-

To Sail into Spit-head and into Portsmouth Harbour.

Keep Sandown [Fort] touching with Culver [Cliffe] to clear you of Bembridge Ledge, untill the Kickers are in one, and, Ashedown mark touching, you have 3 Fathom Water, then keeping those marks on untill Bembridge Point and Dun Nose is in one you'l have 7 Fathom. then the mark kept on you'l have from Do. to 9, 12, 15, 18 Fathom a Mile to the Eastward of the Warner Buoy, the which will near continue untill the Chalkhole upon Post-down be on South Sea Castle. which kept on untill the Castle near Gosport be on Blockhouse Point the mark to run into the Harbour. You may Anchor at Spit Head in about 12 or 14 Fathom the Kicker being about 1/4 Mile distant bearing N.W.

To Sail out or in at the Needles into Yarmouth Road.

Tis to be observed that the Tide runs in and out very Swiftly, especially at Spring Tides, therefore tis but Seldom attempted to Sail in or out against it unless you have a fresh Gale of Wind.

To Sail out with the Ebb keep well over to the Isle being past the warden Ledge, to avoid the Shingles, the Tide setting over them to Christ Church Head.

To Sail in the Tide setting the Reverse upon the Flood, keep over [ ] the Shingles to avoid the warden Ledge.

To Sail to the Norward of the Shingles; keep Hurst Castle & Stone Pt. touching.

TIDES
Printed in a picture frame cartouche upper right are notes about tides. The figures for tidal reach are particularly difficult to read, even from the microfilm rather than the print.

Remarks upon the Flowing of ye Tides in the respective places in the Draught.

... ...

In Chichester & Langstone Harbours it flows full & [change] near S.b.E. 11 1/2; but without & in St. Hellen's Road ye Flood runs but till [9.] or S.E: In Portsmouth Harbour & Southampton River it flows full & change near S: or 11 3/4 but at Spit:Head the Flood runs but till 9 1/2 or S.E.1/2S; and in Cowes Road S:S:E: or 10 1/4; & at ye Needles S.E.b.S. near 9 1/2 ye Flood setting direct from Hurst Castle to Cowes Point, & from that to Gilkicker Point, & from that S.E. between the Buoys in ye Channel, & so S.E.b.E. direct to the Looe Streame and the Ebb runs the Reverse.

But in the Harbours of Selsey, Chichester, Langstone, Portsmouth and Rivers of Southampton, Newport, Bowley, Limington &c. the Flood without is called the Lay Tide within, it running in [slowly] but as soon as the Ebb, or Western Tide is made without, it flows fast in these Harbours and Rivers, and the Tide sets in very swiftly, particularly into Chichester, Langstone and Portsmouth Harbours.

In all which places, Harbours and Rivers, it flows up and down or Perpendicular { Feet : Inches { Spring Tides 18 : 0 { Neap Tides 12 : 0

Except about Cowes and Bowley River, where it flows { Spring Tides 15 : 0 { Neap Tides 10 : 0

and at Limington, and Yarmouth, and there about it flows { Spring Tides 12 : 0 { Neap Tides : 0

and at the Needles and there about it flows : Spring Tides 9 : 0 { Neap Tides 6 : 0

In all which places it flows about Seven Hours, and Ebbs about five.

In Christ Church, and Poole Harbours, the first Flood or proper High-Water, is at 9 or S.E. then it Ebbs an Hour and half; and flows as much, making ye Counter of latter Flood, at S. or 11 3/4 then it Ebbs till past four, so that it flows with the Counter Flood near 7 Houres, & Ebb about 5.

The Counter Flood flows up and down or perpendicular { Spring Tides [ : ] { Neap Tides [ : ]

The Flood sets from Durlstone Head to Christ Church Head, and from that over ye Shingles to Sconce Pt. two Leagues offen from Durlstone Head; ... ...

... ...

The pairing of number and compass direction is interesting. The numbers all agree, within the errors of expression with the following tabulation


compass	time

SE	9

	9 1/4
SE 1/2 S
	9 1/2

SE by S	9 3/4

	10
SSE 1/2 E
	10 1/4

SSE	10 1/2

	10 3/4
SSE 1/2 S
	11

S by E	11 1/4

	11 1/2
S 1/2 E
	11 3/4

S	12

The number given is the 'tidal constant' or 'tidal difference', the time of the tide related to the time of the tide at a standard place on the coast. The standard place for this chart is not stated; presumably a mariner of the period would know where and have the relevant tide tables to hand.

The expression of the time as a compass point was a known practice at the time. For example: a manuscript notebook by E Williams, 1724, has a drawing of a compass card with all 32 points of the compass, with angles in degrees from 0..90 four times, and with hours from 1..12, 1..12 round the outside. This was a conversion diagram for expressing times expressed by compass points in tide tables to hours and minutes.

reference:-

Frere-Cook, Gervais (ed) & Waters, D W (of NMM): 1966: Decorative Arts of the Mariner: Cassell and Co (London):: p.180

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