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By 1700 London was one of the greatest cities in the world. It's population of over 500,000 dwarfed the next most populous English city, Norwich, by a factor of 15 to 1. The city was, however, a very dangerous and unhealthy place. Overcrowding, poor sanitation and disease led to more people dying each year than were born. With contaminated drinking water, the streets acting as open sewers and the choking atmosphere, diseases such as Cholera, Smallpox and Tuberculosis were wide spread. Not least among the average Londoner's worries was the fact that there were over 250 capital offences. Life expectancy varied from the early 20's in the poorest Boroughs to maybe the mid 30's in the wealthier parts of town. By 1800 the population had risen to the extent that London was probably the first city in the world with over 1,000,000 citizens. However, the average life expectancy across London was still only 30 while in rural England it had risen to over 40. The population could only be maintained by immigration, so despite the dangers, migrants flocked to the city from all over the country, lured by wages at least double those elsewhere. By 1850 the population had grown to about 2,500,000.
Turnpike Roads
With the development of the turnpike roads long distance travel became more feasible and comfortable thus the need for accurate and detailed maps. The first turnpike was erected near Ware in Hertfordshire in 1663 and by 1700 there were 17 turnpike trusts. In 1706 Parliament enacted the Turnpike Trust Act and from then on the turnpike system rapidly increased. In the mid to late 18th century improved surveying and road building techniques, by engineers such as John 'Tar' McAdam, led to there being between 40 and 50 trusts set up each year. The Trustees were given the right to charge tolls in return for maintaining the roads and erecting signs and milestones etc. With the coming of the railways in the 1830's long distance road travel decreased and the last trusts were set up in 1835.
With the coming of the turnpike roads the villages surrounding London were linked together and as the city rapidly expanded accurate maps were essential for travel around the city. They had to be robust, a purely paper map would soon disintegrate with constant opening and closing. Dissecting the map and laying it down on linen or calico greatly extended the maps life , a slipcase being provided for further protection. Nevertheless they had a very high mortality rate and as London expanded they soon became out of date and were often thrown away. In other parts of the world, such as India, it was military considerations that drove the production of maps.
How they were made
The first stage in the production of a map was the surveying. This was done by triangulation
using high points such as church steeples and then physically walking the ground
and measuring the distances between the points using chains or measuring wheel of
8.25 feet in circumference. The chain as a unit of length was introduced in c.1620
and is 22 yards long, there being 80 chains in a mile. The surveying often took several
years as in the case of Greenwood’s Map of London surveyed over the years 1824 -
Having surveyed the area and preparing hand drawn maps printing plates had to be made. The hand drawn map was given to the engraver who by using a tool know as a burin cut lines in a copper plate. The engravers were highly skilled craftsman who had to engrave everything in reverse. This was slow and meticulous work and the engraving often took many months. On completion the copper plate was inked by hand the right way round. Large scale maps would require several plates to be made.
From conception it took a great deal of time, effort and money before the first map was pulled from the copper plate. Not a few cartographers went bankrupt. Many of the maps were so expensive only the rich could afford to buy them. For example, Assheton’s map of the Holy Land would have cost somewhere in the region of £1500 in today terms if the value of money was calculated on the average wage.
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