British Town Maps: A History

Towns are complex and sophisticated creations. Mapping towns stretched cartographers’ ingenuity to new heights of both artistic beauty and scientific exactitude as they strove to represent and communicate the physical patterns of streets, buildings, and spaces; built structures and economic realities; the lives of those who live and work there; and the unseen realities of landownership, administration, religion, and politics.

Lavishly illustrated with over one hundred full-color maps from the British Library’s own collection, RJP Kain and Richard Oliver’s in-depth, accessible history tells the story of the mapping of urban Britain from the middle ages until today. These maps served a variety of purposes, from guiding travelers, assisting with administration and government, raising taxes, planning the built environment, organizing its defense, and much more. Some of the maps in this book are well known, others have languished in obscurity. Taken together, they tell a compelling history of urban mapmakers and the cities they sought to portray.