DHMAP.ORG Tactile and large print maps by David Hawgood

Essex 1835

Introduction - Description - Abbreviations - Guidelines - Surrounding counties - Maps - Home page

Introduction

Graphics linked from the maps section of this page produce a large print map of Essex in 1835, a tactile map with braille lettering, and a key to the tactile map. This page explains and describes the maps. Towns shown are parliamentary boroughs and polling places in 1835. The Description section says what is on the map. The Abbreviations section gives locations within the county. The Guidelines section gives a sequence of places along guidelines through the county. The page Essex and Parliament 1835 gives information on the parliamentary status of places. The Maps section has links to the maps, which are in pdf (Acrobat) format, and to a page describing the way to produce a tactile map with braille letters from the pdf file. On another page is a general introduction to this series of maps of the English counties which are intended to be accessible to blind and partially sighted people. The Genuki pages for Essex have more information about the county, its records, and many of its towns and parishes.

Description

There is a solid circle at the top left of the map. The title follows it at the top of the map, which is the North.The county boundary is shown by a dotted line. The Chapman County Code ESS is in large letters in the top right corner of the map. Towns are large dots, with a 2 letter abbreviation of the town name nearby. Guidelines linking the towns are solid lines. A ten mile scale bar is in the bottom right corner. Essex is a coastal county, about 50 miles east to west by about 40 miles north to south.

Abbreviations and locations

In the list below the two letter abbreviation is given first, then the place name, then the position on the map within the county. In overall shape the county has a main block on the left (West) of the map and a narrower promontory to the right (East), about two thirds of the way up the map. Of the towns listed below, Harwich, Thorpe and Colchester are on this Eastern part.

BI Billericay - half way across, a quarter of the way up

BR Braintree - half way across, two thirds of the way up

BS Bishops Stortford (Hertfordshire) - just outside the Western boundary, half way up.

CH Chelmsford - half way across, a third of the way up

CO Colchester - inland on the Eastern promontory

EP Epping - near the Western border, a third of the way up the map

HA Harwich - On the coast on the Eastern promontory

MA Maldon - near the East coast of a sea inlet (the Blackwater River) a third of the way up

RC Rochford - near the South East corner.

RM Romford - near the South-West corner

SW Saffron Walden - near the North-West corner

TH Thorpe - near the coast on the Eastern promontory

Towns not shown but larger later

The places shown were significant in 1835. Some which became larger later:

Ilford is between the South West corner and Romford.

Southend is on the coast at the South East corner, just South of Rochford

London progressively spread over the South East corner of Essex

Guidelines

Guidelines are shown to link the places on the map, and may not be roads.

Three guidelines are shown, running across the county. The top one has a side branch. From bottom to top:

From bottom left of the county, to Romford, Billericay, and Rochford
Across the middle, from the left hand boundary, right to Epping, to Chelmsford, and to Maldon near the east coast;
Top line, from Bishops Stortford just outside the county boundary on the left. One line goes up and right to Saffron Walden. Another line from Bishops Stortford goes across the county, right to Braintree, on to Colchester, on to Thorpe, then up and right to Harwich on the east coast.

Surrounding counties

Names of surrounding counties surrounding Essex are not shown on the map. On the East is the sea, which extends as the Thames Estuary on the South-East. The Thames forms the Southern boundary, with Kent. Going clockwise from the South-West corner, the Western boundary is first with Middlesex, then with Hertfordshire. Cambidgeshire is at the North-West corner, and Suffolk is to the North of Essex.

Maps

Graphic of Tactile map with braille names (pdf file)

Graphic of key in braille (pdf file)

Instructions for making a tactile map

Large print map (pdf file)

A single copy of this page can be made by or for any individual user. If you wish to make multiple copies or modifications, please contact David Hawgood - email david at hawgood dot com - I will normally give permission but I wish to know what use is being made of the maps. I also welcome comments.