Britain’s earliest maps were drawn by the Romans in A.D. 150, but English map-making did not really develop until the late 16th century. From 1574 Christopher Saxon started to produce county maps showing topography, villages and coastline, but no roads. At the same time John Speed produced maps showing the hundreds in each county, and by the end of the 17th century John Ogilby was creating strip maps, showing routes from one town to another. However, it was not until the 19th century with the formation of the Ordnance Survey that standardised series of maps became widespread.

Somerset Archives and Local Studies holds four distinct series of maps: estate maps, tithe maps, enclosure (or inclosure) maps and awards and Ordnance Survey (OS) maps. We also hold other plans, such as town plans and plans of public undertakings (e.g. the building of roads, railways and canals). The majority of catalogued maps are identified in the online catalogue as ‘Maps and Plans’ (in the Category field).

Estate Maps

Estate maps developed from written surveys of estates and manors were drawn for a purpose and usually paid for by the landowner, so they often show some features more clearly than others and omit what is not required for their purpose.

Maps were drawn by a variety of surveyors and vary greatly in scale, size, extent, content and detail. At a minimum they usually show part or all of a single landowner’s holdings; at times one farm, sometimes a whole parish, sometimes a whole estate extending over several parishes. Estate maps typically show individual fields with access routes, and often give field acreages. Names of tenants or farmers are sometimes provided. Most estate maps are concerned with land rather than buildings, so the depiction of settlements and houses can be unreliable. Therefore, if something is not on the map it does not mean it was not there at the time.

Separate map catalogues are available in the searchroom and list all estate maps alphabetically by parish. You can also search on the online catalogue by putting the name of your parish and the word “map” in the “search” box (e.g. Mark map).

Tithe maps (ref. D/D/rt* or D/P/*)

Parishioners historically had to give one tenth of their produce to the church. By the early 19th century, this system was out of date and unfair, as many different arrangements were in place, and it was very unpopular. The Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 aimed to solve the problem. It calculated total tithe payments and rent charges from the previous seven years, and apportioned the total among the parish’s landholders, depending on their acreage and quality of land.

For each parish a map and survey (known as an apportionment or award) were created. On the tithe map each field was to be precisely measured. However, local surveyors often had little experience and no standardisation of scale or detail was set, so maps vary in size and detail from parish to parish. Many town centres are not mapped, and a few parishes have no map at all.

Each field on the map was numbered, and cross-referenced in the apportionment, providing details on the landowner, tenant, name of the property or land, state of cultivation, acreage, and the amount of tithes payable. Entries are organised alphabetically by landowner, not numerically by tithe number. On some maps villages are drawn separately at a larger scale and buildings can sometimes be coloured red to denote inhabited buildings and grey to denote those that were uninhabited.

Three copies of the tithe map were produced: one was held centrally (now at The National Archives), one was held by the Diocese and the third by the parish. Somerset Archives and Local Studies holds the Diocesan copies and a percentage of the parish copies.

All of the tithe maps have been digitised and are available online via the Somerset Historic Environment Record (HER) (excluding parishes in North Somerset) and Know Your Place. See our further research guide 'A Guide to Finding Somerset Maps online' for more information. The tithe awards for Somerset (excluding parishes in Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset) have been transcribed and the information added to the Somerset HER, though the originals may still be consulted in the searchroom.

Enclosure maps and awards (ref. Q/RDE)

Enclosure of individual fields has been a feature of the English landscape since medieval times. Early enclosures were piecemeal, and few records survive. Most came about by local agreement or due to a landowner imposing his will on his tenants.

Enclosure by Act of Parliament began in 1760. This was usually of arable land, but from 1795 included common or wastelands. Local promoters of enclosure placed a bill before parliament which when passed became an ‘Inclosure Act.’ The Act allowed promoters to nominate commissioners who would reallocate land into coherent units, so that each landowner would have the same value (not acreage) as before, usually in the form of a single field. A surveyor was appointed to draw up a plan of the lands to be enclosed, which survive as the enclosure awards.

The awards show field boundaries and roads. Each plot is numbered, described and located, with details of ownership and acreage. They also show land already enclosed, roads which have been stopped up, and at times buildings and industrial sites. The enclosure awards are listed in Somerset enclosure acts and awards by W. Tate (S 333.76 TAT), available in the searchroom, and on the online catalogue (ref. Q/RDE). A selection of Somerset enclosure maps have been digitised and made available via the Know Your Place website.

Ordnance Survey maps

One inch (1”) to the mile was the original scale used by Ordnance Survey, and maps were published from 1809 onwards for Somerset. In rural areas, large houses stand out and most farms are named. Towns are shown with their complete street layouts. Reprints of these maps are available in the searchroom.

From 1840 six inch (6”) to the mile maps were produced, and from 1880 more detailed twenty-five inch (25”) to the mile maps were also created. Both were based on a county grid system, whereby Somerset was divided into ninety-four squares for the six inch (each square was then divided into four: NW, NE, SE and SW). For the twenty-five inch the ninety-four squares were sub-divided into sixteen smaller squares.

Somerset Archives and Local Studies holds a complete set of the 1st edition maps (created 1882 to 1888) at the six inch scale, and a full set of the twenty-five inch maps on microfiche (and some sheets). We have a full set of 2nd edition six inch maps, and a nearly complete set of the 25 inch maps; these were mapped in about 1900-1903. We also have some of the 2nd edition revised twenty-five inch maps (from about 1930), and a selection of later National Grid maps, 1940s-1990s.

The 1st, 2nd and 2nd revised editions of the Ordnance Survey County Series have been digitised and are available online via the Somerset Historic Environment Record (HER) (excluding parishes in North Somerset) and Know Your Place. See our further research guide 'A Guide to Finding Somerset Maps online' for more information.

Other maps

We hold a variety of other maps, including plans of public undertakings (ref. Q/RUP*), which relate to public utilities such as canals, turnpike roads, railways, tramways, water supply, harbours, docks, gas, electricity and light, extensions of borough boundaries, etc.

Town plans are listed in the map catalogue folders along with the estate maps. They exist mostly for the large urban areas, such as Bath, Taunton and Bridgwater. Digital copies of many of these are available online via the Somerset Historic Environment Record (HER) (excluding parishes in North Somerset) and Know Your Place. See our further research guide 'A Guide to Finding Somerset Maps online' for more information.

Building control plans (held amongst the Rural, Urban, Borough and District Council collections: refs. D/R/*, D/U/*, D/B/* and D/DC/*), **archaeological plans (**e.g. ref. A/AWI), local plans (e.g. refs. D/PC/* and C/*), development plans (various collections), and maps of the 1911 Inland Revenue Doomsday Survey (ref. DD/IR) are also held for parts of Somerset. Catalogues for these are available on the online catalogue, or please ask staff for details.