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“Everywhere's been where it is ever since it was first put there. It's called geography”
Maps and Plans
Research Themes Supported
Hull History Centre holds large numbers of maps, plans and surveys. Such records can aid research into:
- Estate Management
- Land Ownership
- Urban Development
- Rural Development
- Enclosure
- Building Construction
- Development of Docks
- Public Spaces
- Rights of Way
- Drainage
Key Information Content of Records
The following are common categories of information which feature in this record type:
- Scale showing distances represented on map etc.
- Road names
- Building numbers
- Boundaries
- Public spaces, i.e. parks
- Specific building types, i.e. churches, schools
- Bodies of water, i.e. rivers, drains, lakes
- Drainage and utility connections
Where Record Type is Usually Found
This record type commonly survives in the following categories of archival collection:
- Papers created by landed families and estates
- Council committee and department records
- Records created by architects, surveyors and builders
- The Ordnance Survey
Typical formats
Maps, plans and surveys come in a variety of formats, including: Ordnance Survey maps; town plans; street maps; engineering plans; building elevation plans; landed estate plans.
Additional Supporting Material
The following secondary literature provides contextual background and useful further information when trying to understand and use this record type:
- Rachel Hewitt, Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey (2011)
- Matthew H. Edney, Cartography: The Ideal and Its History (2019)
- Roger Kain, John Chapman, Richard Oliver, The Enclosure Maps of England and Wales 1595-1918 (2004)
- Colin Chapman, How Heavy, How Much and How Long? Weights, Money and Other Measures Used by Our Ancestors (1995)
Downloadable list of material
The following PDF contains a list of key maps, plans and surveys held at HHC.
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Source Guide Maps Plans & Surveys List of maps and plans at HHC
