Map Notes -- BLOME1.txt

	Map Notes

Blome 1673	NOTES from BLOME'S MAP of HAMPSHIRE 1673
FA1991.9	These notes are made from a map of Hampshire by Richard Blome, 1673. The map studied is in the Map Collection of Hampshire CC Museums Service, item HMCMS:FA1991.9.
	map type: HantsMap & Blome 1673
	The map size is: wxh, sheet = 28x34.5cm.
	In 1696, Bishop William Nicholson referred to Blome's atlas of 1673 as:-
	... a most entire piece of theft out of Camden and Speed.
	Richard Blome was the first to finance a series of county maps by subscription.
	MAP FEATURES
title plain cartouche	Printed upper left is a plain cartouche, attached to the table of hundreds:- A MAPP OF HANTSHIRE
dedication map maker engraver	Printed lower left is a dedication in a swagged cartouche:- To the Rt. Honl. Charles Ld. St. John, Son & Heire To the Rt. Honl. John Ld. Marquis of Winchester. Ld. Liuetenant of the County of Hanshire This Mapp is humbly dedicated by Ric: Blome. 'Liuetenant' is what it says. The engraving leaves something to be desired; like clarity and neatness? Text layout is not well planned, Rumsey is hidden by Toothill for instance. The map is not a delight to the eye.
coat of arms	Printed above the dedication is a coat of arms, the Paulet arms, ... three swords in pile points at base ... with a coronet above.
orientation compass rose	Printed on the left is a compass rose; circle, lines for the cardinal directions, labelled:- N E S W
scale line scale old english mile	Printed lower centre is:- A Scale of 10 Miles chequered and labelled in miles. The 10 miles = 65.1mm gives a scale 1 to 247211 on the bad assumption of a statute mile. The map scale is about:- 1 to 250000 4 miles to 1 inch A better estimate of the map scale, with a note about the Old English Mile, has been made using town positions.
index grid	This map has no index grid. Calculations have been made to overlay the National Grid system on the map, see:-
	see:- BLM1NGR.txt
sea area sea shaded sandbanks	The sea area has shading lines in places, perhaps just to make it less 'empty'. One sea area is labelled - The Solent, called:- PART OF YE BRITISH SEA South of Hayling Island is a sandbank:- The Mackett
coast line coast shaded headlands cliffs harbours	The coast is shaded, pretty crudely. The shading is taken into harbours and river mouths. Mudflat or sandbank areas are stippled, and:- A few coastal features are labelled, headlands etc, eg:- Hengist bury head Black cliffe Rames head Some harbours are labelled, eg:- Hamble haven Titchfeilde hav.
coastal defence castles	Coastal defence castles are hardly noticed. Hurst castle is missing; so is the whole of Hurst Spit! The defencs shown are:- Calshott cast S Andrews Castle Ruynes of haselworth castle South castle
rivers bridges lakes	Rivers are drawn with wiggly lines. There is little attempt to taper inland. Bariding might be suggested as shown south of Stockbridge on the Test. The rivers are not named, though many can be identified. All the major river systems are shown with some tributaries. A tributary leaves the Test near Brodlands running in from the 'west' side, slightly higher up this tributary crosses! the Test. Rivers do not do that. The Alre seems to have been added as an afterthougt. A lake is shown at Highclere park. A number of bridges are indicated, eg:- Iforde Fordingbridge etc, look carefully!
relief hillocks	Relief is suggested by hillocks, shaded to the east. Hills are grouped.
beacons	At Popham the:- Parrow Beacons are labelled, and the lumpy hill has three posts on top, as shown on earlier maps. Also labelled is:- Toothill Beacon with neither hill nor symbol.
trees forests	Trees are scattered about the map over the New Forest area. Elsewhere they are less used. A group can be seen which might be East Bere Forest. Roughly where West Bere Forest is there is a detached label:- Forrest BUCKHOLT FOREST is labelled but has no tree symbols. There are trees in some parks.
parks	Parks are shown by a ring of fence palings. Some contain trees. Few are labelled except by the house or settlement within or near.
county	The county boundary is a dashed line, emphasised by tinting. Boundaries might separate adjacent counties, which are labelled, eg:- PART OF SURRY
hundreds table of hundreds	The hundred boundaries are dotted lines. The hundred areas are linked to a reference list by numbers. Printed upper left is:- A Table of the Hundreds 1 Crundall 2 Odiam 3 Alton ... 40 Fordingbridge Hundred boundaries on the map are confused; it is not alwys possible to follow the boundary of a particular hundred, and some unnumbered areas are difficult to identify. One unnumbered area, around Alresford, is probably Alresford Liberty, not in the table of hundreds. The map colourist has been confused, and has added more confusion where colouring doesn't follow the boundaries.
settlements	Settlements are position ed by a dot and circle which has added elements to indicate size or importance. The dot is sometimes missing. The terms 'hamlet', 'village', used here are impositions of a tidy mind, not the known intentions of the map maker.
city	dot and circle plus towers and buildings; labelled in upright block caps, eg:- WINCHESTER (but not Chichester)

town	dot and circle plus 3 towers; labelled in slightly larger italic lowercase text, eg:- Andover

town	dot and circle plus towers and buildings; labelled in the same slightly larger italic lowercase text, eg:- Fareham

village	dot and circle plus tower, or tower and building; labelled in slightly smaller italic lowercase text, eg:- Littleton Whitchurch Portsey

hamlet	dot and circle, or just a circle; labelled in the slightly smaller italic lowercase text. The place name is sometimes linked to its dot by a tail on the last letter of the text, eg:- Pitt Sutton

	dot and circle plus upright line on top: unknown meaning, eg:- Minley and dot and circle with a cross on top, which is probably a sign for a religious house, or chapel, eg:- Magdalyne
	Bishop Nicholson's charge of plagiarism is not as well founded as it at first appears. Judging by the place name spellings, Richard Blome used several sources, not just Camden and Speed. According to academic foklore copying from more than two sources is legitimate research rather than copying! A detail comparison with Norden, Speed, and other earlier maps might make this more clear. It is possible that some corrections were made after the map was first engraved; several place names have inserts, for example a 'u' is inserted in:- St Maryborn Other inserts look more like spellng corrections, an 'r' for:- Potsey Place name engraving is poor. You cannot rely on size of text to judge importance of place; some place names are crowded out by other engraving, Rumsey of example is tiny. The relationship between label and place is not always clear: it is too often unclear, but look out for an engraved line from the text towatds a symbol.
miscellaneous
mills water mills windmills	Beside the river SE of St Mary Bourne is a circle with rays which is a watermill. There is a post mill drawn on the hill NW of Chalton Although there is no symbol, a mill is labelled at the junction of the Blackwater, Whitewater, etc at the north boundary of the county:- New Mill This is probbaly the mill of that name on the Blackwater, which is now in Berkshire.
tents	tent, perhaps with a flag, eg:- SE of Winchester W of Bittern It is not clear what this is. Could it indicate a roman town - but Silchester is not marked thus ... Could it indicate a hillfort, as at St Catherine's Hill, but it's not this elsewhere ... There's probably a simple answer we've not seen.
copperas works	In the south west corner of the county there is:- Bascomb copperas house

	map type Blome 1673 -- menu of resources
	source item -- HMCMS:FA1991.9 -- map

	list of map notes

	HantsMap Notes -- BLOME1.txt : 3.9.1998 : 28.4.2003

NOTES from BLOME'S MAP of HAMPSHIRE 1673

MAP FEATURES