Estates at Windsor, Berkshire

This is a manuscript map of the area surrounding Windsor in Berkshire. It forms part of an atlas that belonged to William Cecil Lord Burghley, Elizabeth I’s Secretary of State. Burghley used this atlas to illustrate domestic matters. Burghley was in charge of administration for the Royal Estate of Windsor. The Royal Estates were notoriously slackly administered, a flaw that no official involved was keen to remedy as there were considerable personal advantages to be gained from inadequacies in the system. The map is drawn to scale with a scale bar of 5.5 - 6 miles. The many parks are shown by enclosure symbols, an important feature of any landscape for military purposes as it was in parks that troops could rest and horses graze. Communication routes such as roads and pathways are indicated by double or single broken lines and the rivers and the points at which they are bridged are also shown. The waterways were a vital communication route at the time, especially in this area where the Thames provides direct access to the centre of London.

Reading 19

1 : 31680 This drawing has been shaded to give an indication of relative relief. Against this block shading, the network of roads stands out clearly in white. The Thames and its tributaries are turquoise and the draughtsman has indicated the various islands between its banks. In the bottom right, an ink inscription reads: 'This Plan belon[gs to the] Board of Ord[nance] W [Mudge] Col...' Dawson, Robert

Reading (Hills) - OS One-Inch Revised New Series

1 : 63360 Topographic maps Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey

Reading (Outline) - OS One-Inch Revised New Series

1 : 63360 Topographic maps Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey

The fourth sheet of an actual survey of Berkshire

1 Blatt : 68 x 52 cm John Rocque

Hungerford (Hills) - OS One-Inch Revised New Series

1 : 63360 Topographic maps Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey

Hungerford (Outline) - OS One-Inch Revised New Series

1 : 63360 Topographic maps Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey

The fifth sheet of an actual survey of the countys of Berks Oxford and Bucks

1 Blatt : 68 x 52 cm John Rocque

The second sheet of an actual survey of Berkshire

1 Blatt : 68 x 52 cm John Rocque

East Ilsley

1 : 31680 .A turnpike road, shown in faded yellow ochre, forms the southern boundary of this map of the Berkshire chalklands. It runs from Speenhamland, at the bottom left of the plan, to Woolhampton, at the right. The mileage appears alongside the route in black-ink figures, and toll gates are marked. Correspondence in the Ordnance Survey Letter Book records that William Stanley, military draughtsman and author of this drawing, spent more than a year from February 1821 revising the plan. Some of these corrections are apparent near Thatcham at the bottom centre of the map. Stanley, William

The third sheet of an actual survey of Berkshire

1 Blatt : 68 x 52 cm John Rocque

Windsor (Outline) - OS One-Inch Revised New Series

1 : 63360 Topographic maps Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey

Windsor (Hills) - OS One-Inch Revised New Series

1 : 63360 Topographic maps Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey

The first sheet of an actual survey of Berkshire

1 Blatt : 68 x 52 cm publish'd according to act of parliament by John Rocque chorographer to their royal Highnesses the late and present Prince of Wales etc. in the Strand

Lambourn

1 : 31680 Author of this drawing, William Stanley was listed as a 'first class' military draughtsman and surveyor at the Tower of London Drawing Room. The top boundary of this section of the Berkshire Downs follows an ancient grass track, the Ridge Way. Elaborate hill shading describing relief and the attention given to communications routes highlight the military emphasis of these studies. Archaeological details are documented even though this did not become obligatory until 1816. Pencil rays intersecting across the manuscript are evidence of angular measurements taken by the surveyor between fixed points. Stanley, William