Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Towards a national survey
SUSSEX, 1778
Today we are used to the fact that Ordnance Survey provides mapping for the nation. This
was not always the case, and this map marked an important step towards the kind of accurate,
scientific maps that we now expect. It was an early product of an important partnership in
British cartographic history. The 3rd Duke of Richmond employed two young men, Thomas
Yeakell and William Gardner, as surveyors of his large estate at Goodwood, where the lattice
of the park is shown above centre. Through the 1760s and 1770s they mastered the art of sur-
vey by mathematical methods here, and then sought a wider canvas beyond the estate walls
on which to practice their art.
