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Research Notes
Map Group BELLIN 1764
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Bellin 1764
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These notes are taken from BELLIN'S CHART of PORTSEA ISLAND, 1764,
a chart of Portsea Island and
Portsmouth Harbour, and the fortifications, by Jacques Nicolas
Bellin, published in le Petit Atlas Maritime, Paris, France,
1764. The map studied is in the Map Collection of Hampshire CC
Museums Service, item HMCMS:FA2002.83.
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The atlas title page reads:-
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LE PETIT ATLAS MARITIME TOME IV. Contentant L'EUROPE ET LES
DIVERS ETATS QU'ELLE RENFERME Excepte la France.
set in a picture frame decorated with foliage and a ?horse's
head, foliage and musical instruments, artist's palette, brushes
etc and dividers, and sword, spears, flags, and a ?bomb. In the
background is a ship and anchor.
The chart is No.8 in vol.4 of the atlas. The map size is: wxh,
sheet = 22x31.5cm; wxh, plate = 193x239mm; wxh, map:
153x210mm.
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JACQUES N BELLIN |
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MAP FEATURES |
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COASTAL DEFENCE |
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REFERENCES |
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ITEMS in the Collection |
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| JACQUES N |
BELLIN
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Jacques Nicolas Bellin was born in Paris, France, 1703. He was
Ingenieur Hydrographe de la Marine at the Depot des Cartes, Plans
et Journeaux du Ministere de la Marine, Paris, France, from 1741
to 1772. The french hydrographic office had been established in
1720; Jacques Bellin was their first chief hydrographic engineer.
A sea atlas, Le Neptune Francais, had been produced by Jean
Baptiste Colbert in 1693. This was revised under the direction of
Bellin and republished, Paris, 1753. A worldwide sea atlas,
Hydrographie Francaise, was published by Bellin, Paris, from 1765
onwards. (large folio, double page 56x89cm). He also published:
an Atlas Maritime, 1751; Essai Geographique sur les Iles
Britannique, 1763 (quarto); and le Petit Atlas Maritime, from
1764 (quarto); etc. Jacques Bellin died at Versaille, 1772.
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(His son, also Jacques Nicolas, 1745-85, was an engraver in
Paris.)
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| MAP FEATURES |
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title
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Printed upper centre is:-
CARTE DE L'ISLE DE PORTSEY, ET HAVRE DE
PORTSMOUTH.
The map includes Gosport, Portsmouth Harbour north to
Portchester, Portsea Island, and Langstone Harbour.
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north point
rhumb lines
up is N
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Printed lower left is a north point, North marked by a fleur
de lys. There are rhumb lines across the sea area; bold for
cardinal points, light for half cardinal, dotted for false
points. The chart is printed with North at the top of the
page.
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scale line
scale
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Printed upper centre, under the title, is a:-
Echelle d'une Lieue Commune de
France
chequered and labelled in quarter leagues (which I take it to
be). The 1 league = 48.1 mm, if a league is 3.18 nautical miles
of 6080 feet, then the map scale is about:-
1 to 120000
2 miles to 1 inch
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sea area
sea plain
sandbanks
depth soundings
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The sea area is plain.
Pecking is used to show foreshore shallows and sandbanks, the
pecking denser at the edges. The spit off Blockhouse Point is
labelled:-
Spit boue
And the large shallows off the south of Portsea Island:-
Bas fond toujours couvert de la
Mer
The sea and channels are labelled with depth
soundings,eg:-
6
3 1/2
which are most likely in fathoms.
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coast line
coast appearance
harbours
islands
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The coast line is shaded on the landward side giving an
impression of its appearance? or perhaps it is just a
conventional slightly rounded landform.
The harbour entrance channels are labelled:-
Havre ou Port de
Portsmouth
Havre de Langston
Portsea Island is labelled:-
ISLE DE PORTSEY
other islands are shown in the harbours, including:-
I Horsey
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settlements
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Settlements are drawn by groups of rectangualr blocks, for
group of buildings. A church is an open rectangle, rounded end,
with a cross. There are mostly labelled:-
Gosport
Porchester
Kingston
Portsey [with a church]
PORTSMOUTH [with a church]
Milton
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| COASTAL |
DEFENCE |
coastal defence
castles
fortifications
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The chart shows a lot of coastal defence features around the
navy's home base; what else! In the late eighteenth century
relationships between France and Great Britain were not good;
France threatened invasion. Their maps of our defences was not,
for us, a good thing.
There are small forts:-
Fort de South Sea
and grander polygonal, artillery style fortifications:-
as at Ports Creek. The fortifications shown are (interpreting
as well as maybe) following round Portsmouth Harbour from the
south west:-
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Fort Blockhouse
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small fort with four bastions, labelled:-
Fort
South side of Haslar Lake; West side of the entrance to
Portsmouth Harbour.
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Gosport Lines
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angular fortifications to landward, plain walls to
seaward.
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Priddy's Hard
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small fort with four bastions, labelled:-
Fort
North side of Forton Lake. It is too small but in the right
position to be Priddy's Hard.
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Fort James
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small fort with four bastions, on a sandbank, labelled:-
Fort
This is far too far north, but what else might it be but Fort
James?
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Portchester Castle
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small fort with four bastions, labelled:-
Chateau ou Fort
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Portsea Lines
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clearly drawn angular fortifications, on each side of Ports
Creek, and an island fort between, no bridge shown,
labelled:-
Ft. de Portsey
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Portsmouth
Dockyard
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angular fortifications to landward, plain walls to seaward,
labelled:-
Kings Dock ou le Chantier
Royal
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Portsmouth Lines
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angular fortifications all around the town, guarding the east
side of the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. (Detail note
below)
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Southsea Castle
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small fort with four bastions, labelled:-
Fort de South Sea
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Lumps Fort
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a single rectangular building east of Southsea Castle could be
Lumps Fort, though Bellin does not recognise it.
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Looking closely at the drawing of the fortifications around
Portsmouth it is possible to imagine that the drawing is rather
good. You can fit the details to how the lines really were. This
is a very speculative exercise.
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Running counterclokwise from Kings Bastion at the South;
King's Bastion, Kings Ravelin, Pembroke Bastion, Montague
Ravelin, East Bastion, Town Mound Bastion, Landport Ravelin,
Guy's Bastion, Beeston's Bastion, Legg's Demibastion, Camber
Bastion, Square Tower, and Spur Redoubt.
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THIS IS DONE WITHOUT EXACT KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT PARTS OF THE
FORTIFICATIONS WERE IN PLACE IN 1770.
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| REFERENCES |
Baynton-Williams, Roger: 1971:
Investing in Maps: Corgi Books:: ISBN 0 552 98789 1
French, Josephine: 1999: Tooley's
Dictionary of Mapmakers: Map Collector Publications
Tooley, R V: 1952 (2nd edn): Maps
and Map Makers: Bonanza Books (New York, United States)
Whitfield, Peter: 1996: Charting
the Oceans: British Library:: ISBN 0 7123 0493 2
Corney, Arthur: 1965:
Fortifications in Old Portsmouth: Portsmouth City Museums
Dartington Amenity Research Unit:
1979: Defence of the Realm: Portsmouth City Council & Southern
Tourist Board
Saunders, A D: 1977: Hampshire
Coastal Defence since the Introduction of Artillery: Royal
ASrchaeological Institute
Williams, G H: 1979: Western
Defences of Portsmouth Harbour 1400-1800: Portsmouth Ciry
Council: Portsmouth Papers no.30
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ITEMS |
in HMCMS Map Collection (scanned item in bold)
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source item -- HMCMS:FA2002.83 -- chart |
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All Old Hampshire Mapped Resources |