Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The first result was this engraved map of Sussex at a scale of 2 inches to 1 mile. This is
the westernmost sheet of four made, out of the eight originally proposed. Ranging from the
Hampshire border at left across to Arundel, it shows the network of fields and woods, with
Chichester coloured red as the only town of any size. The South Downs across the top are
portrayed in an eye-catching way by dark hachures which emphasise their height. The coast
is shown incised by harbours and inlets, with good anchorages noted. Both men carried out
the survey work, and Yeakell also engraved the map. This county map project faltered be-
cause the maps were expensive and did not sell well. Its surveyors, too, were drawn into work
elsewhere, on the national scale that they desired.
The Duke of Richmond was Master of the Board of Ordnance in the 1780s and 1790s,
responsible for all aspects of supply to the army, including maps. It was from this Board
that Ordnance Survey took its name. As a military man who owned an estate on the south
coast and valued maps, Richmond proposed a national topographic survey. This would of-
fer defence information about the lie of the land and good landing places, should France -
then heading for Revolution - try to invade England. While arguing for such a survey at the
highest levels, the Duke ensured that his protégés, Yeakell and Gardner, assumed senior posi-
tions among the Draughtsmen in the Tower of London, where the Ordnance office was based.
The Board's records include a rare survival of 'foul drawings', draft manuscript maps
made in the field, of parts of Sussex and Kent by Yeakell, which throw light on the mapmak-
ing process. Doodles show where he tried out his pen, did calculations and practiced writing
words, sometimes unrelated to the map: 'Tuesday', 'walnut' and 'dang' appear. From such
sketches arose finished hand-drawn coloured fair plans, on which the engraved maps were
based. Gardner outlived Yeakell and went on to supervise production of the first Ordnance
Survey maps in the late 1790s, drawing on the partners' earlier work on this map but using
new survey instruments and methods of triangulation. Thus, this map and its creators contrib-
uted to the genesis of a national survey.
