The oldest printed maps (those of the 17th, 18th and early 19th
centuries) were usually drawn for each historic county. Copies of
most of those for Northamptonshire, and several for Huntingdonshire
are available at Peterborough Central Library. Most of these maps
are at a very small scale and not too reliable. Only with the
Ordnance Survey's first mapping in the early nineteenth century do
we at all approach reliability at the standard 1" to the mile.
Peterborough Central Library holds microfiche copies of the
original surveyor's plans for most of southern England, together
with several of the many editions of the 1" between c.1820 and
1967, some of which are recent facsimile reproductions.
With 6" and the 25" to the mile scales the Ordnance Survey maps
become much more useful because of the additional details. For the
Peterborough area these maps were printed c.1886, c.1901 and
c.1927. Peterborough Central Library has coverage of the Soke and
the northern part of Huntingdonshire mostly as 25mm film mounted on
aperture cards.
Between c.1927 and c.1962 there was little or no large scale
revision for this area except the Provisional 1950 6" edition
produced with the newly created National Grid imposed upon it. From
c.1962 until c.1993 there have been printed editions of Ordnance
Survey Maps at various Imperial and Metric scales and Peterborough
Central Library holds copies of all the editions covering the City
and Soke of Peterborough.
There are maps of the City itself for 1610, 1721, 1821, 1829,
1840, 1877-81 and 1886 (the last at an enormous scale of 1:500 or
10 ft to one mile). All of these are confined to the urban area,
although part of the 1821 map includes the entire parish and the
1877-1881 map covers the whole municipal borough. The urban area
was again surveyed at a large scale, 50" to the mile, between 1965
and 1970, with revisions to 1987.
The only detailed plans of the individual villages before the
25" of 1886 would be the unique maps drawn for such purposes as
Inclosure, Tithe Commutation or surveys conducted for estate
owners. Peterborough Central Library holds photocopies of the
Inclosure maps where they exist, for villages in the Soke and the
northern edge of Huntingdonshire (these are mostly confined to a
date range between 1790 and 1840).
There are a number of other twentieth century maps, usually
based on the OS 1" scale, coloured or annotated for specific
purposes; these include Soil Surveys, Administrative Areas,
Geological Surveys, Agricultural Land Classification, etc.
For the City of Peterborough there are also a number of plans
drawn for specific purposes such as sales catalogues, housing
estate developments, the proposed routes of railways etc. Many of
these are rare or unique and Peterborough Central Library
occasionally has the originals, but more frequently holds
photocopies.
Buckles Map Collection
A collection of maps and plans from Buckles Solicitors; it
contains Ordnance Survey maps:
- County Series (First Edition, Second Edition, 1926-1928
Edition, Provisional Edition and National Grid Series)
- Outline Edition
- War Edition (Second War Revision)
- 'Large Sheet Series' (1913 Edition)
The majority of maps are 1:2500 scale (25 inches = 1 mile) but
the collection also includes maps at:
- 1:500 scale (125 inches = 1 mile)
- 1:10,560 scale (6 inches = 1 mile)
- 1:63,360 scale (1 inch = 1 mile)
- 1:253,440 scale (1/4 inch = 1 mile)
These maps cover the old Soke of Peterborough, and also parts of
Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire,
Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Pembrokeshire, Rutland, Surrey, Sussex
and Warwickshire. The 1:253,440 scale map covers England and
Wales.
Some of the maps have been annotated and coloured or highlighted
in certain areas. It is likely that this has been done in
connection with the work of Buckles Solicitors, but the exact
reason is unknown.
The collection also contains two structural floor plans of
properties on Priestgate (one being Number 45), and a tracing of
Upton.
Held at Peterborough Archives Service
An inventory of this collection is available for consultation in
the Local Studies and Archive Room at Peterborough Central
Library.
Wansford Parish Fields Collection
- A map and guide to the field names and footpaths and hedgerows
in and around Wansford
Held at Peterborough Archives Service
An inventory of this collection is available for consultation in
the Local Studies and Archive Room at Peterborough Central
Library.
Old Maps
Providing access to Britain's most extensive digital historical
map archive. Find out where your ancestors used to live or check
out what your neighbourhood looked like over a hundred years
ago.
www.old-maps.co.uk
Church Plans Online
- A searchable database of 15,00 files that include 12,300 church
plans 1818-1982.
http://www.churchplansonline.com.
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