Research Notes


Map Group WILKES 1806
Wilkes 1806
Map, Hampshire, scale about 10.5 miles to 1 inch, with the Isle of Wight, by John Wilkes, London, 1806; published 1806-28?

These notes are from a map in the Map Collection of Hampshire CC Museum Service, item HMCMS:FA1998.130. The map is nicely hand tinted; very jolly.
The map size is: wxh, sheet = 21x26.5cm; wxh, map = 188x231mm.
Published in 'Encyclopaedia Londoniensis ... By John Wilkes ... London: Printed for the Proprietor, By J. Adlard, Duke Street, West Smithfield: Sold ... by J. White, Fleet-Street; and Champante and Whitrow, Jewry-Street, Aldgate. 1810.'
The atlas contains 40 plates; its size is 8 1/4 x 10 1/4 ins.
MAP FEATURES
REFERENCES
ITEMS in the Collection
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MAP FEATURES
title    
map maker    
Printed bottom centre is:-
image snip from map
HAMPSHIRE. / London Published as the Act directs Decr. 1st. 1806 by J. Wilkes.
The map includes the Christchurch area now in Dorset, and the Isle of Wight.

orientation    
compass rose    
up is N    
image snip from map
Printed lower right is a compass rose; no circle, star points for cardinal and half cardinal directions, North marked by a fleur de lys. The map is printed with North at the top of the sheet.

scale    
The map has no scale, except what is implied by the lat and long scales. An estimate of scale from the position of a few towns (see below) suggests that the map scale is about:-
1 to 670000
11 inches to 1 mile

lat and long scales    
image snip from map
There are rectangular latitude and longitude scales in the pink tinted map borders, chequered in minutes, marked every 5 minutes in arabic numerals, degrees in roman numerals. The lower border is labelled:-
Longitude Wst. from London
Reading from the map scales the:-
longitude, Winchester = 1d 12.6m W
which suggests a prime meridian in London well west of Greenwich, perhaps St Paul's?

sea area    
sea plain    
The sea is tinted plae blue. Some sea areas are labelled, eg:-
ENGLISH CHANNEL
SPITHEAD
SOUTHAMPTON WATER
coast line    
coast shaded    
harbours    
image snip from map
The coast line has horizontal shading and a darker blue tint, for emphasis. The shading extends into river mouths and harbours.
Some harbours are labelled:-
Portsmouth Harbour
Langstone Harbour
coastal defence    
fortifications    
castles    
Little of the county's coastal defences are noticed on the map. There is a tower on Hurst Spit which could be Hurst Castle, if it isn't the lighthouse:-
image snip from map
There are fortifications around Portsmouth:-
image snip from map

rivers    
bridges    
ponds    
River estuaries are drawn boldly; beyond this the rivers are a thin wiggly line. Most rivers are not labelled, but notice:-
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Crook[ford] Water
between Lymington and Beaulieu rivers, off Sowley Pond? A lot of streams are drawn but accuracy is not all it could be. The Test is continued to Whitchurch but not further eastward although the Bourne Rivulet is drawn. The Itchin is continued north from Alresford then ENE towards Alton!
Bridges are implied but not stated, a river is interrupted by a road. A few are labelled:-
image snip from map
Our Br [Ower]
Kilcomb Bridge [nr Chilbolton]
Broken bridge [nr Denny Lodge]
or implied:-
Gr[ ] Bri Mill [N of Romsey]
At least one pond is labelled, though not drawn:-
Bistern Pond
and Fleet Pond is drawn but not labelled.

relief    
Relief is not shown, and little is implied by labels except incidentally, eg:-
Quarley Hill camp
Gilbert Hill [NW of B's Waltham]
Filmer Hill
woods    
forests    
vegetation    
Some forests are shown by areas of trees plus dotted ground, tinted green, labelled:-
image snip from map
The Holt Forest [ie Alice Holt]
Woolmer Forest
Forest of East Bere
NEW FOREST
and there are a few woods:-
Mays Cops [E of East Bere F]
Litchfield Wood
perhaps just implied:-
Dole Wood Lodge [H'bourne Tarrant]
Some common lands are labelled, eg:-
Week Comm.
Curdridge Common
Yately Heath
parks    
Parks are shown by a bounded area of dotted ground with some trees, and tinted green. The boundary line has vestiges of fence palings. Parks might be labelled, in some cases difficult to distinguish from a nearby settlement, eg at Hursley, but see:-
image snip from map
Freemantle Park
Dogmersfield
Harewood Park
Idesworth
county    
image snip from map
The county boundary is a dotted line. The whole county is tinted plae yellow, and the boundary has a stronger yellow tint for emphasis. Some adjoining counties are labelled, eg:-
WILT SHIRE
SUSSEX
The adjacent counties have a border tint: Dorset pink, Wiltshire green, Berkshire pink, Surrey blue, Sussex pink. This is more colours than are necessary.

settlements    
distances from London    
The placing of settlement labels does not follow a strict style, so it can be difficult to decide what is being marked.
city    
town     		Towns, and the one city, are shown by a group of blocks around a road junction, crudely tinted red. The junction layout may not reflect the actual road layout, it's just a join of roads. Labelled in upright block caps text; the city is not distinguished from the towns. Eg:-
image snip from map
WINCHESTER / 54
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STOCKBRIDGE / 68
FORD OF ALRESFORD / 67
The expected towns are marked in this way, but also Broughton! The figures by a town are the distance from London.

village    
hamlet     		Villages are shown by a plus sign (+), a cross? labelled in upright lowercase text. Eg:-
image snip from map
Upper Wallop
Twyford
Some villages have a small group of blocks on a road instead of the cross, eg:-
Porchester
There are confusions, eg:-
Fareham
with a + marked and labelled just north of:-
FAREHAM
shown as a town.
Not all villages have the cross, eg:-
Empshot
E. Dean
and villages might be very small, eg:-
Little Worldham
Farley
hamlet     A few settlements are labelled in lowercase italic text without any position mark. These may be hamlets, eg:-
image snip from map
Lower Froyle
Burcot
but this labelling id used for other features as well.

farm     At least one farm is labelled:-
Millbarrows Lower Fa.
near Corhampton fortifications At Portsmouth the fortifications are shown in crude outline.


roads    
image snip from map
Roads are drawn with a double line; they are graded into major and minor roads by width. The major roads (nearly) all have one line bolder than the other, and are tinted pale brown or orange.
There are a few road names, eg:-
image snip from map
Bagg Lane
between Lymington and Christchurch. The destinations of roads outside the county is sometimes given, eg:-
to Oxford
from Amesbury
from Blandford and Weymouth
to London
 
Route diagram:-

miscellaneous    


mills    
water mills    
Notice:-
image snip from map
G[ ] Bri Mill
on the Test, north of Romsey

antiquities    
hillforts    
At least two hillforts are labelled:-
image snip from map
Quarley Hill Camp
Dunbury Camp
antiquities    
roman roads    
Some roman roads are labelled, eg:-
image snip from map
Roman Road from Sarum
to Winchester.
The Portway is clearly drawn, but not labelled.

inns    
At least one inn is labelled:-
image snip from map
New Inn
by the cross roads south of Privett.

race courses    
On Worthy Down, north of Winchester is:-
image snip from map
Worthy Dean Course
copying a spelling mistake from an earlier map. The race course looks like a park.

crosses    
There is a cross labelled:-
Steventon Cross
SCALE
The scale of Wilkes was estimated by measuring distances between a few towns:-
         
Basingstoke - Winchester   67mm 28 miles 1 to 672562
Basingstoke - Southampton   112mm 46 miles 1 to 660981
Basingstoke - Portsmouth   126mm 53 miles 1 to 676946
Basingstoke - Christchurch   184mm 77 miles 1 to 673475
average scale = 1 to 670991; the map scale is about:-
1 to 670000
11 miles to 1 inch
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REFERENCES
Wilkes, John: 1810 & 1828: Encyclopaedia Londoniensis: (London)
ITEMS  in HMCMS Map Collection   (scanned item in bold)
  HMCMS:FA1998.130 -- map
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   All Old Hampshire Mapped Resources