Ordnance Survey – Great Britain's national mapping agency

Old paper maps under the hammer

03 March 2008

A collection of old paper maps are going under the hammer this week in Scarborough.

One of the maps is 400 years old and displays the ‘beginning of Yorkshire’.

The oldest map in the collection dates back to 1607 and the most recent was penned in 1750, giving an insight into how the area appeared hundreds of years ago, reports the Scarborough Evening News.

Jane Duggleby will be putting the (mostly) coloured maps under the hammer at David Duggleby's this week.

She told the paper: ‘They are very interesting because they have many of the place names spelt a little differently, and the colours are amazing for something that is so old’.

Lot 37 of the auction will be the 'Mapp of the East Rideing of Yorkshire', lot 39 shows the 'Environs of Scarborough, Pickering, Malton and Driffield' and the one dated 1607 is lot 41 – a hand-coloured map published by Camden-Hole entitled 'Ebor Acensis', which translates to the beginning of Yorkshire.

Those with an interest in old maps may want to check out Lancaster Council's collection of historic maps, which can be viewed online.

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