notes Parker 1777

	Research Notes Map Group PARKER 1777

Parker 1777
	Canal map, parliamentary deposited plan, Plan of the intended Navigable Canal from Basingstoke to the River Wey, scale about 1 inch to 1 mile, surveyed by Joseph Parker, engraved by William Faden, about 1777.

	A copy of Parker's map of the Basingstoke Canal is in the Map Collection of Hampshire CC Museums Service, item HMCMS:KD1992.289.
	The map size is: wxh, sheet 82x29.5cm; wxh, plate 804x283mm approx; wxh, map 790x297mm.
	Do note that detail observations will be focused on Hampshire, perhaps missing features in Surrey.

	THE CANAL
	OTHER MAP FEATURES
	ITEMS in the Collection

THE CANAL
canals table of distances	The course of the canal is from Basingstoke to the River Wey which it joins near New Haw. The route continues as the Wey Navigation to join the Thames near Weybridge, giving access to towns on that river, to London and beyond. The first part of the canal is a contour canal cutting across the valleys of the Loddon and other streams, making a long loop around hills around Newnham, passing close by Odiham, to the Hampshire Surrey county boundary at Dead Brook near Aldershot. An alternative route with a tunnel at Greywell to cut the loop short is drawn; and a short branch is shown to Stratfield Turgis at the north end of the loop. After a further stretch of contour route to about Pirbright, Surrey, the canal falls 204 feet down tributary valleys of the Wey, passing close by Woking, to the River Wey near Woodham or New Haw. A table of distances printed lower left gives, in miles chains and furlongs:- From Basingstoke to Aldershot near Deadbrook ... 28 2 5 declared as 'level' From thence to the River Wey ... 15 5 3 declared fall 204 feet 4 inches. [total] ... ... 43 7 8 Collateral cut ... 1 2 0 The canal eventually cut used the tunnel route, 1200 yards at Greywell, had no branch to Turgis, and - at a superficial glance - follows a slightly different route beyond Ash. It is 37 miles long, falls 195 feet, has 29 locks. It has a stop lock at Greywell, not counted; a step down at Ash Lock near Aldershot, Hampshire, to a new contour; then series of locks around Pirbright, Horsell and Woodham, Surrey, 28 more.
canal bridges	Canal bridges are shown by the double line of a road crossing the canal. Presumably all the road crossings are indicated, but it is likely that there would be a number more accommodation bridges as well.

canal locks	The canal locks are not indicated, perhaps the survey is not that accurate. The canal that was cut had 29 locks, mostly in Surrey. One lock on the Wey Navigation is marked and labelled:- Newhaw Lock There are others, not marked.

	There are some unidentified letters and numbers marked along the canal. A series of letters, eg:- B by a straight stretch at Hook Common E by a road bridge near Dogmersfield E by another road bridge near Dogmersfield The letters are in alphabetical order A..H, but not all letters have been found, no D, no G; some letters repeat, C, C, C for instance; they are not always by the same sort of feature. There are many more numbers, starting at 1 near Basingstoke. They are sort of in order: 1 2 2 3 4 3 5 3 6 5 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 and so on. They do not represent distances or lengths and cannot denote height; they are placed between marks across the canal - and all segments have either a number or a letter. A separate sequence of lowercase letters is used for the alternate tunnel route, a..k; and a separate set is used up the possible Turgis branch, 1..8. There must be a printed schedule belonging to the map to make sense of these labels.
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OTHER MAP	FEATURES
title map maker engraver	Printed at the top is:- A PLAN of the intended Navigable Canal from BASINGSTOKE to the RIVER WEY. / Engraved by Wm. Faden, Charing Cross. / [scale line] / Surveyed by Joseph Parker.
orientation compass rose up is E	A minimal compass rose is printed lower right. There are lines for the cardinal directions in a plain circle; North marked by a half fleur de lys. The map is printed with North at the top approximately, it's about NNW up. The canal runs roughly east-west across the wide sheet.
scale line scale	Below the title, upper centre, is a:- SCALE OF MILES. this has 8 furlongs marked and numbered to the left, and two miles marked and numbered to the right. 3 miles = 65.1 mm gives a scale 1 to 74163 assuming a statute mile. The map scale is about:- 1 to 74000 1.2 miles to 1 inch.
rivers ponds	Rivers are drawn by wiggly line, and might be labelled, eg:- River Deepford River Lodon at the head of which ponds are drawn with form lines, labelled:- Newram Springs Fleet Pond is also drawn with form lines filling its area, and the ponds in Dogmersfield Park are shown. Several of the Hampshire rivers are crossed by the canal on its contour route. The River Wey is larger and is drawn wider with form lines, labelled:- Wey River There are no mills shown in Hampshire; there are some in Surrey.
relief hill hachuring	A ridge of hill from Greywell north to Rotherwick and Turgis is shown by hachures. The canal loops around much of this, but a tunnel is also drawn through the ridge at Greywell. Other hills are shown to the south of the canal between Crookham and Aldershot, and more in Surrey.
woods forests	Not shown.
parks	Parks near the canal's proposed route are shown as an outline and labelled as a park or by the great house. In Hampshire are:- Hackwood Tylney Hall Dogmersfield Park and further from the canal's line:- Heckfield Park Elvetham Park Bramshill Park
county	The boundary between Hampshire and Surrey is a dotted line, labelled:- County Boundary The two areas are labelled:- HAMPSHIRE SURREY
settlements street map	Settlements are shown by groups of blocks which might make a street plan in larger places, Basingstoke for example. A church might be used to mark a small place. Places by the canal are shown, together with a few places around to orientate the map reader and to show who would be served by the canal. Labelling is either upright lowercase, eg:- Basingstoke or italic lowercase, eg:- Odiham Greywell which is also used for any other feature label.
roads	Roads are drawn by a double line, solid or dotted, but only to where it crosses the canal, or to show the street plan of a settlement.
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ITEMS	in HMCMS Map Collection (scanned item in bold)
	HMCMS:KD1992.289 -- canal map
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	All Old Hampshire Mapped Resources