Skip to main content

News

Treasures from Worcestershire’s Past: ~6~ A map by John Ogilby

  • 3rd January 2014

Maps and plans are a great source for a study of a local area, house history and how people lived in the past. Worcestershire Archive Service hold Ordanace Survey maps, Tithe and Enclosure plans, Estate Maps, Public Health Maps which can all be used for comparing the lives of rich and poor, landowners and tenants.

A sample of a John Ogilby map, 1675

John Ogilby (1600-1676) produced one inch to the mile road maps on scrolled parchment. Each map consisted of vertical strips with a compass showing the orientation. He also depicted churches, hills, gallows and rivers and numerous other features, which make these such fascinating documents.

Comments are closed.

Related news


  • 4th May 2026
Victoria Woodhull Martin and Worcestershire

One collection that we’ve come across as part of our retroconversion project is this box of documents relating to Victoria Woodhull Martin, the first woman to run for US President in 1872, and Lady of the Manor of Bredon’s Norton, 1901-1927. Who was Woodhull Martin?   Described as “vastly avant garde”, Victoria Woodhull Martin was...

  • 23rd April 2026
True Crimes – Florrie Porter

With funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we are having a series of free talks at The Hive on ‘True Crimes’. Using documents found in a deposit made by West Mercia Police, our second talk focused on Florrie Porter. In 1944, Florrie’s body was discovered on the grounds of a school in Lickey End....

  • 10th April 2026
Bickmarsh Hoard – Life in 9th century Bickmarsh

Imagine walking along a quiet country lane in rural Worcestershire. Fields stretch away on either side, and the landscape feels peaceful and timeless. Yet over 1,100 years ago this same landscape may have been a place of uncertainty, where someone buried a small collection of coins in the ground and never returned to reclaim them....