|
Research Notes
Map Group SAXTON 1595
|
 |
|
Saxton 1575
|
|
|
|
Map, Southamtoniae, ie Hampshire, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by
Christopher Saxton, London, engraved by Leonardus Terwoort, Antwerp, Belgium,
1575, published 1579-1645.
|
|
The maps studied are in the Map
Collection of Hampshire CC Museums Service, mostly using item
HMCMS:KD1996.1.
|
|
Each county map, except Yorkshire which is large, is engraved
on a single plate. Various scales are used, to suit the size of
county. Magnetic North is at the top; roughly, the shape of the
county might occasion a swing of a few degrees to fit it neatly
in the rectangular sheet.
|
|
Some of the symbols and labelling on our copy of the map have
been added to the printing plate in an indifferent hand.
|
| |
 |
MAP FEATURES |
|
|
PUBLISHING HISTORY |
|
|
TRANSCRIPT - from SAXTON'S ATLAS OF ENGLAND AND WALES, 1579 |
|
|
REFERENCES |
|
|
ITEMS in the Collection |
|
|
|
CHRISTOPHER SAXTON
|
|
Christopher Saxton was born in Dunningley, near Wakefield,
Yorkshire, about 1542-44. He was commissioned by Thomas Seckford,
gentleman, Suffolk, Master of Requests to Elizabeth I, to map all
the counties of England and Wales. The surveys were done 1570-78,
the project assisted by letters from the Privy Council. 34 county
maps were published 1579, in An Atlas of England and Wales; the
first national atlas of any country. The map maker was granted
letters patent by Elizabeth I for a 10 year privilege of printing
and selling the maps, and given his own coat of arms, granted 1
July 1579. The arms of Elizabeth and of his patron, Seckford,
appear on his maps. Saxton died about 1606.
|
| top of page |
|
|
| MAP FEATURES |
|
title cartouche
coat of arms
map maker
engraver
|
The title of the map is in a cartouche surmounted by the royal
coat of arms, Elizabeth I.
Quarterly, 1 and 4 azure three fleur de
lys argent, 2 and 3 gules three lions passant guardant or
and mottoes:-
DIEU ET MON DROYT
and:-
HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE
The supporters are a crowned lion and a dragon, this is one of
the few periods when the welsh dragon is inlcuded with the
arms.
The title is:-
SOUT / HAMTONIAE. / Comitatus (preter
Insulas / Vectis, Jersey, et Garnsey, / quae sunt partes eiusdem
/ comitatus) cum suis undiqe / confinibus; Oppidis; pagis; /
Villis; et fluminibus; / Vera descriptio:
A secondary cartouche, decorated with a rams head has the
title again:-
SOUTHAMTONIAE / Commitatus preter
Civitatem / Wincestriam habet Oppida, me / rcatoriae 18 pagos et
villas 248
In a small strapwork cartouche bottom centre is:-
Christophorus Saxton
descripsit.
The engraver's name is given below the scale line:-
LEONARDUS TERWOORT ANTVERPEANUS
SCULPSIT
Lenaert Terwoort was a Fleming living and working in
England.
The text engraving on this map is a delight; accurate and
clear with a lovely feel to the letter spacing and decoration.
Extended ascenders and descenders work between cartographic
elements to please the eye.
|
coat of arms
|
As well as the arms of the monarch there is the coat of arms
of Saxton's patron, Thomas Seckford. Motto:-
PESTIS PATRIAE PIGRICIES
idleness is the plague of the country
In the strapwork of the cartouche there date is a date for the
map:-
AN DNI / 1575
(After 1576 Seckford's motto was Industria Naturam Ornat)
With all the strapwork there are fantastical bits of
engraving, fruit, insects, the rams head mentioned, etc.
|
picture frame border
|
The map border imitates carved wood picture framing
|
swash lettering
|
Empty space outside the county is filled with swash lettering,
naming the contiguous counties.
|
orientation
labelled borders
|
The four borders of the map sheet are labelled with
directions:-
SEPTENTRIO
ORIENS
MERIDIES
OCCIDENS
|
scale line
scale
dividers
old english mile
|
There is a scale line of 10 miles, chequered in half miles,
caption:-
Scala Miliarum
There is a pair of dividers above. The 10 miles = 83.2 mm,
giving, wrongly assuming a statute mile for the map maker's mile,
a map scale about:-
1 to 190000 ?
3 miles to 1 inch
A better estimate can be made from town positions, comparing
known town-town distances using DISTAB.exe. The map scale is
about:-
1 to 240000
4 miles to 1 inch
The map maker's mile is an:-
Old English Mile = 1.22 statute miles
|
index grid
|
Calculations have been made to
overlay the National Grid system on the map.
|
|
For more details, and
how this grid can be used compare early county maps,
and to index places, see:-
|
|
Old Hampshire Mapped
|
|
By comparing the headings of the towns from the centroids, and averaging, it is calculated that NGR north is -7.1 degrees from map north.
|
|
The grid references of the map borders were calculated as:-
bottom left SY908838
top left SU026786
top right TQ079655
bottom right SZ961707
|
|
This could be useful to present the map in a GIS system.
|
sea area
sea pecked
ships
sea monsters
|
The sea to the south of the county is stippled.
In the sea are various ships, small coastal craft and two
carracks of the period. A couple of unlikely fish are drawn as
well.
The hull of the smaller carrack is clearly pointed at one end
and flat at the other, where there is a stern rudder. It has two
masts and a bow sprit: main mast and main topmast with square
main sail and main topsail; mizzen mast with a lateen sail; bow
sprit with a square sail.
The larger carrack looks more fierce to this lubberly eye,
with fore and stern castles of several stages. It has 3 masts and
bowsprit: fore main and fore top masts with square sails; main
and main top masts with square sails; mizzen mast with a lateen
sail; bow sprit with a square sail. Ratlines can be seen on the
main mast rigging.
Most of the small coastal vessels have spritsails; one has a
square sail.
|
coast line
coast shaded
harbours
|
The coast line is shaded.
Harbours, havens, along the coast are labelled clearly
|
coastal defence
castles
fortifications
|
dot, circle, pair of towers with flags marks a castle,
eg:-
Hurst castel
Coastal defence castles are shown at Hurst, Calshot, Netley,
St Andrew's, Southsey and the blockhouse east of the last.
Portsmouth and Southampton are NOT drawn with recorgnisable
polygonal fortifications, though town walls and bastions are
shown.
|
rivers
bridges
ferries
|
Rivers are drawn tapering from their mouth, there is no
excessive wiggliness but it clear that rivers are represented;
some are named. Some bridges are shewn, some with names. A couple
of ferries are labelled.
|
relief
hillocks
|
Hills are indicated by little hillocks. These are partly
grouped, though it is not easy to interpret what they mean. Some
hills are made steeper than others; some hills are named.
|
beacons
|
A number of beacons are indicated on hills, by little spikes,
perhaps representing the beacon posts?
This map is made 13 years before the Armada in a period when
sea invasion was not quite so threatening? Beacons, while they
were in place were perhaps not specially regarded; they are not
all noticed by the map maker.
|
woods
forests
trees
|
The map has definite groups of trees indicating forests, which
are mostly named. The forests mostly correspond to the great
hunting preserves declared as royal forests; but not all. Trees
are also drawn in parks.
|
parks
|
Parks are shown by a ring of fence palings. The park might
contain a settlement symbol; it is difficult to know when this
indicates a hamlet or village, and when just the house in the
park. Most parks are drawn roughly circular, but there are a
couple of oddities, that near Clanfield, for example. Some parks
are labelled.
|
county
|
The county boundary is a finely dotted line.
Contiguous counties area named. The detached part of Hampshire
to the east is missed.
|
hundreds
|
Although hundreds remained a useful? administrative unit only
5 of Saxton's 34 county maps show them. This sheet does NOT show
the hundreds.
There is an unexplained area delimited by a red dotted line
near around Cheriton, Kimston, Beauford, and Tichborn. This is
not printed in black, and might have been inserted by the
colourist.
|
settlements
|
Settlements are positioned by a dot and circle, with additions
to suggest the sort of settlement. The labelling is nearly all
one size of neat, legible, italic lowercase. Names are sometimes
in a macaroni of Latin and English, eg:-
Sct Lukes chapell
The a of ...ham is often printed above the hm.
A letter p with a line thro the tail stands for par, eg:-
Fremantel pke
Long poche
A tilde has been used in the transcriptions for a abbreviation
mark. There is no table of symbols, and the symbols must be
understood with care:-
|
|
city
|
dot, double circle, lots of buildings, cross on highest tower,
name in block caps is a city, eg:-
Winchester
|
|
|
|
town
|
dot, double circle, buildings and towers labelled in block
caps is a town, eg:-
Havant
A larger town has more buildings, eg:-
Portesmouth
It is possible to see town walls and bastions at Portsmouth,
Southampton and Winchester.
|
|
|
|
village
|
dot, circle, church, or at least a tower is a village,
eg:-
Shelborn
|
|
|
|
hamlet
|
dot, circle, building is a hamlet, or perhaps just a house.
The arrangement of building and circle varies, there might be two
buildings; nice examples are Lynkenholt, Littleton, Emsworth
|
|
|
|
house
|
dot, circle, building with flag is a house, eg:-
Basing House
|
miscellaneous
|
|
mills
windmills
|
Windmills are drawn on the map, for example two on Portes
down. The mills are post mills with four sails.
|
|
ALTERATIONS
|
|
The map has had some very crude alterations to its plate.
Perhaps the most blatant 'correction' is the addition of
Fordingbridge and Burgate with a village symbol.
|
trees
|
Nearby Fordingbridge the Shire Oak, a single named tree, is
added at the shire boundary.
Sheereoke
|
|
These additions are not well engraved, are rather naive.
|
|
| top of page |
|
|
| PUBLISHING |
HISTORY |
|
The map sheets were published in various impressions with different watermarks
in the paper; watermarks of a bunch of grapes are thought to be the earliest,
perhaps as early as 1565, crossed arrows about 1588, kneeling saint with a cross
after 1600. An early state of the map has no labels in the borders, fewer trees
in parks, an no motto below Seckford's arms. A second state has the labels, the
motto noted above, and new trees in 29 parks. A third state has a new motto,
Seckford's changed it in 1576 to 'Industria naturam ornat' -- 'hard work
improves on nature', and the decorative panel over the Isle of Wight has the map
maker's name. There are various other states; in particular adding 5 villages,
Beauworth, Bighton, Kilmiston, Bramdean, and Chilcomb, also Alresford Pond, and
a second label for the River Itchen. |
|
Skelton suggests that, magnetic north being roughly at the top, it might be that
a county was swung a little to fit it to the page. |
|
Published in 'An Atlas of England and Wales by Christopher Saxton.
London. 1579.' |
|
The 1575 map carries the royal arms, of Elizabeth I, and the coat of arms of
Thomas Seckford with his motto 'Pestis Patria Pigrities' -- 'idleness is the
plague of the country'; there are no roads and no hundreds. |
|
The 1579 atlas has a frontispiece portrait of Elizabeth I, a map of England, and
includes a count of cities, bishoprics, market towns, castles, parishes,
churches, rivers, bridges, chases, forests and parks, in each county; the atlas
size is 9 1/4 x 14 3/4 ins. |
|
Published in 'The Maps of all the Shires in England, and Wales. Exactly
taken and truly described by Christopher Saxton. And graven at the Charges of a
private Gentleman for the publicke good. Now newly Revised, Amended, and
Reprinted. Printed for William Web at the Globe in Cornehill, 1645.' |
|
In the 1645 atlas the map title is HAMPSHIRE and the date is changed from 1575
to 1642; unlike a number of counties Hampshire does not have the arms of
Elizabeth I replaced by those of Charles I; this late publication probably arose
from a demand for county maps consequent on the Civil War. |
|
Other changes were made about 1665. And an altered version of the map is
published from about 1689, see Lea 1689. |
|
Summarising, the map plate was later in possession of, and perhaps altered by:-
William Webb, from 1642, dated 1642; unknown mapseller, 1665; Philip Lea, about
1683-93, additional features; George Willdey, about 1720; Thomas Jeffreys, about
1749; C Dicey and Co, about 1770. |
| |
|
| top of page |
|
|
| TRANSCRIPT - |
from SAXTON'S ATLAS OF ENGLAND AND WALES, 1579 |
| |
|
|
These notes are made from two copies of the county Atlas of
England and Wales by Christopher Saxton, published 1579. The copies
seen are in the Map Library, National Library of Scotland and in the
collections of Birmingham Central Library, call number
E094/1579/10..
|
| |
|
The title page includes a picture of Elizabeth I on a throne,
the royal coat of arms with lion and dragon supporters, etc.
There are surveying and other instruments; armillary sphere,
globe, dividers, fore staff, ...
|
|
The transcripts are from introductory pages to help the
understanding of the single map of Hampshire in the Map
Collection of Hampshire CC Museums Service.
|
|
'q' followed by what looks like a [yoch?] is transcribed as
'que'.
|
|
Ano. Dn~i 1579
|
|
Clemens et Regni moderatrix iusta Brita~ni / Hac forma insigni
conspicienda nitet.
|
|
Tristia dum gentes circum omnes bella fatigant, / Caecique
errores toto grassantur in orbe. / pace beas longa, Vera et
pietate Britannos: / lusticia moderans mili sapienter habenas. /
Chara domi, celebrisque foris, longaeucique regnu~ / Hic teneas,
regno tandem fruitura perenni.
|
|
Indicem huic operi tripartium adiecimus. ... Tertio, ludicum
itineraria, Initia, & dierum luridicorum ac Locorum ad Ludica tam
Civilia quam Criminalia exercenda constituorum definitum tempus
(Vulgus Circuitus ac assisas vocat) reperies.
|
|
|
|
| Ludicum Circuitus. |
|
Initia. |
Dierum numerus. |
Loco. |
| Southamptonia |
|
Lunae. |
3. |
Wintoniae |
| Wiltonia |
|
Iouis. |
3. |
Salisburiae |
| Dorcestria |
|
Lunae. |
3. |
Dorcestriae |
| Somersetus |
|
Iouis. |
3. |
Tauntoniae, vel Chardiae |
| Devonia |
|
Lunae. |
6. |
Exoniae |
| Cornubia |
|
Lunae. |
3. |
Launstoniae |
| ... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
There is a tabulated list of cities, bishoprics, market towns, castles, parishes,
rivers, bridges, chaces, forests, parks, headed:-
|
|
CATALOGUS Urbiu~, Episco~, oppido Merca~, Castro~, Eccle,
parochialiu~, Fluvi~ illustriu~, Pontiu~, Lucoru~, Saltoru~,
Septoruque omniu~, quae per / totum Anglia~ Wallia~que in
Unoquoque comitatu continentur, quemadmodu~ suis locis in
Chirographicis Angliae Walliaeque tabulis ([ubiscuu~] cuique
nome~ adijcitur) / illustrissime referentur. Numerus Vero eorum
omnium quae in hac serie colliguntur, ad imum huius indicis
designatur, sicuti infra videre licet.
|
|
one line is:-
|
|
| Comitatus |
Urbui. |
Episc. |
Op.M. |
Castr |
Ec.Pa. |
Fluvi |
Pon. |
Luco. |
Salto. |
Septo. |
| Southamptonia |
001 |
001 |
018 |
005 |
248 |
004 |
031 |
000 |
009 |
029 |
| Shires |
Cities |
Bisho. |
Mar.To. |
Cast. |
Pa.ch. |
Rive. |
Brid. |
Chase. |
Forr. |
Park. |
|
|
Thus Hampshire is said to have 1 city, 1 see, 18 market towns,
5 castles, 248 parishes, 4 rivers, 31 bridges, 0 lakes(?), 9
forests(?), 29 parks.
|
| |
|
The atlas includes a map of England and Wales, 'Anglia',
1579, see:-
|
|
|
Saxton 1579
|
|
| top of page |
|
|
| REFERENCES |
|
|
|
Saxton, Christopher: 1579: Atlas of England and Wales: (London) |
|
: 1645: Maps of all the Shires in England, and Wales: Web, William (London) |
|
Fordham, H G, Sir: 1928: Christopher Saxton of Dunningley, his life and work:
(Leeds, Yorkshire) |
|
Close, Charles, Sir: 1931: Ancient
Maps of Great Briatin, with special reference to Hampshire:
ProcHFC: vol.10: pp.211-219 |
|
|
|
Laxton, Paul: : 250 Years of Mapmaking in the County of Hampshire 1575 to
1826 |
|
Lynam, E (author of introduction): 1934 & 1939: Atlas of England and Wales, the
Maps of Christopher Saxton engraved 1574-79 (facsimile): British Museum |
|
Lyam, E: 1950: English Maps and Map
Makers of the Sixteenth Century: Geographical J: 106: pp10-14 |
|
Whitaker, H: 1939: Later Editions of Saxton's Maps: Imago Mundi: 3:
pp.72-86 |
|
Evans, Ifor M & Lawrence, Heather: 1979: Christopher Saxton, Elizabethan
Mapmaker: Wakefield Historical Publications & Holland Press (Wakefield,
Yorkshire) |
|
Tyack, Sarah & Huddy, John: 1980: Christopher Saxton and Tudor Mapmaking:
British Library (London) |
|
also see:-
|
|
|
|
related map group -- Lea 1689
|
|
|
the presentation in
Old Hampshire Mapped
|
|
| top of page |
|
|
|
ITEMS |
in HMCMS Map Collection and Private Collections (scanned item in bold)
|
|
|
HMCMS:BWM550 -- reproduction map
|
|
|
HMCMS:FA2002.26 -- map
|
|
|
HMCMS:FA2002.79 -- map
|
|
|
HMCMS:KD1996.1 -- map
|
|
|
HMCMS:R274 -- reproduction map
|
|
|
private collection (37) -- frontispiece
|
|
| top of page |
|
 |
All Old Hampshire Mapped Resources |