John Chapman's Map of Nottinghamshire 1774

South Clifton

By Nottinghamshire Archives

The map of Nottinghamshire surveyed by John Chapman in 1774, and published in 1776, is the earliest reliable detailed map of the county and provides a unique insight into the landscape of Georgian Nottinghamshire. It marks the extensive surviving open countryside of Sherwood Forest, the aristocratic parks of the Dukeries, turnpike roads and tollbars, water and windmills, and historical curiosities.

The Nottinghamshire map was published at a scale of one standard ‘statute’ mile to the inch.

Chapman’s Nottinghamshire is the first ‘modern’ survey of the county. Nottinghamshire had been first mapped by Christopher Saxton in 1576 but all subsequent published maps had either been copies of Saxton or were based on observation rather than on genuine new surveys. As a result many 17th and early 18th century maps were inaccurate.

In the first image, the river Trent and the old Marnham ferry can be seen to the west of South Clifton. The second image shows the wider area around the parish.

The full map can be seen at Nottinghamshire Archives (ref: N 28 L).