The Sheldon Tapestry map of Oxfordshire
The River Thames and its tributaries flow through this map, one of the Sheldon tapestry maps, centred on Oxfordshire
In the 1590s, Ralph Sheldon, a Warwickshire landowner, commissioned four tapestry maps centred on the counties of Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The map information was largely derived from the county maps of Christopher Saxton, first published in 1579. Of these maps, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire and a surviving portion of Gloucestershire are held in the Bodleian. The Oxfordshire map is on long term display in Blackwell Hall in the Weston Library, and can be explored further here.
Although the surviving Oxfordshire map is incomplete, enough of it remains to give an insight into the landscape of the time. Happily, large portions have survived including Oxford and much of London.
Read on to explore the landscape of the 1590s.
This map shows some of the features shown on the tapestry map of Oxfordshire on a modern basemap.
Rivers were a vital resource, for transport and power as well as water supply. In times of slower travel and fewer bridges they could also be a substantial obstacle to journeys. The River Thames and its tributaries flow through the map. Explore the green markers to see some of the rivers featured on the Sheldon tapestry.
Much of the area has been settled for hundreds or even thousands of years. The blue markers show points of historical interest.
Although the map is centred on Oxfordshire, it covers part of several other counties. It's interesting to compare the view of Middlesex on the tapestry with that published by John Norden in more conventional format in his Speculum Britanniae in 1593.
Almost all the area shown on the tapestry map within the county of Middlesex is now part of the conurbation of London. At this time Middlesex was a wealthy agricultural county, producing corn of great quality and benefiting from the proximity to London which provided a market for its produce. Norden lists “Brentforde”, “Stanes”, Uxbridge and Harrow as market towns in the county, as well as Westminster – the latter still sufficiently separate from London to be listed thus. Elsewhere Norden refers to Brentford as Brayneforde, Market Brentforde, and under its modern name. Names of places (and people) were not so standardised then as they are now. Norden’s map shows the major roads radiating out from London as well; this information was not on Saxton’s maps. There are no roads shown on most of this tapestry map, but a few appear in Middlesex. It is possible that Norden's map was the source for these.
Norden's map of Middlesex
Many of the villages named in Middlesex are familiar now as stations on the London Underground network, though again spellings may be a little different nowadays. You can spot Wilsdon (Willesden), Elinge (Ealing) and Rislipp (Rusilip) for example, as well as those like Hendon, Paddington, Acton and Pinner which remain unchanged.
The tapestry map shows London, already an important city though of course much smaller than it is now. The inner London suburbs of Paddington, Kensington, Chelsea, Islington and Hackney can all be seen, and Lambeth and Southwark south of the river. The purple markers show the locations of points of interest in London which are featured on the tapestry.
The video below gives more information about all four tapestry maps.
Sheldon Tapestry Maps: Oxfordshire
