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Knight 1797
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NOTES from KNIGHT'S CHART of THE COAST OF SUSSEX AND HAMPSHIRE, 1797

BWM635  
These notes are taken from the Chart of the coast of Sussex and Hampshire by Captain John Knight RN, 1797. The chart studied is in the Map Collection of Hampshire CC Museums Service, item HMCMS:BWM635.
map type: HantsMap & Knight 1797
The map includes from Christchurch Bay, Dorset to Selsey, West Sussex, and the north coast of the Isle of Wight. The notes are strongly biased towards Hampshire interest.

MAP FEATURES

title    
map maker    

Printed upper left is:-
image snip from map

THE Coast OF SUSSEX AND HAMPSHIRE from SELSEY to CHRIST CHURCH; including Portsmouth Harbour, the Road of Spithead, Southampton River and the Passages by the West End of the ISLE of WIGHT. Surveyed by CAPT. JOHN KNIGHT R.N.
Published by W. Faden, Geographer to His Majesty and to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, Charing Cross: November 1st. 1797.
George II was king at the time, his son became George IV.

orientation    
north point    
up is N    
magnetic variation    

image snip from map

Printed lower right (with the scale line) are a pair of north points. There is a vertical line with the right half of a fleur de lys marking North, labelled:-
Meridian
and a line 23 1/4 degrees West of North labelled:- Magnetic North. The chart is printed with 'true' north at the top of the sheet.

scale line    
scale    

Printed lower right (with the north point) is a:-
image snip from map

Scale of 2 Leagues
chequered and labelled in:-
Miles
The 6 nautical miles = 125.7 mm gives a scale 1 to 88500 taking the length of a nautical mile at 50d 43m N as 6082.93 ft. The chart scale is roughly:-
1 to 89000 ?
1 nautical mile to 1 inch
(1.5 miles to 1 inch)

lat and long scales    
The chart does not have scales of latitude or longitude, but printed upper right is:-
image snip from map

REMARKS
Longitude of the Royal Academy at Portsmouth 1[d]. 6[m]. 15[s]. West from Greenwich
Latitude ... Do. ... at Do. ... 50.48.00 North

sea plain    
depth soundings    
sandbanks    
buoys    
anchorages    
tides    
leading lines    
sea marks    
wrecks    

This is a chart and it is to be expected that the sea is full of detail. The sea area is plain, some areas are labelled, eg:-
ENGLISH CHANNEL
CHRIST CHURCH BAY
Southampton River [Southampton Water]
Stokes Bay
SPITHEAD
image snip from map

The sea areas are labelled with depth soundings, presumed to be in fathoms. Some of the figures are in lines suggesting that a small boat was taken from side to side of the seaway taking soundings as she went. Depths have been measured over the Solent and into the entrances of some harbours.
Sandbanks and foreshore shallows are shown by dotted areas. Some are labelled, eg:-
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Bramble
Shingles
Long Middle
Spit Sand
Over these shallows the depth might be given in feet; for instance over the Shingles:-
2 feet
and over the Bramble, south west to north east:-
8 feet / 6 feet / 10 feet / 1
the last figure being a fathom. These depths are presumably at low water - but neaps or springs?
Buoys are drawn, and described or named, on many of the sandbanks and some foreshore areas. For example, on the south west end of the Bramble is a can with a flag labelled:-
Red
On the south east tip of Spit Sand is:-
Spit Buoy
And the west and south edges of the Horse and Dean Sands, which are not named, has a series of buoys generally labelled:-
image snip from map

Black Buoys
and named in turn:-
Horse
Dean
Elbow
Dean 4th. Buoy
Outer Buoy
Anchorages are shown by a fisherman's anchor, for examples, south of Spit Sand at Spithead, and around the Isle of Wight shore.
image snip from map

Arrows are used to mark tidal streams around the Shingles in the Needles and North Channels. There do not appear to be rates of flow attached to the arrows.
Two dotted lines drawn in these two channels are presumably the two western approach routes for shipping in and out of the Solent.
A number of leading lines are drawn, aligned with various headlands and land features, to show how a ship might avoid shallows. Some of the leading lines are just labelled:-
image snip from map

Mark
Two leading lines and the dotted route for the western approach to the Solent are labelled:-
Needles Channel Way
In this direction the Light appears from the Westward
The light being the lighthouse on Hurst Spit.
Posts are drawn marking the channel in some creeks. For example:-
Lymington Creek
has 4 posts, the outermost on the west labelled:-
image snip from map

Jack in the Basket
and the entrance to:-
Beaulieu R.
has 3 posts.
Three wrecks are noticed on the chart. A conical buoy marks the:-
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Roy. George
HMS Royal George, flagship of Admiral Kempenfelt, capsized with heavy loss of life, during repairs to her hull, 1782, and lay in 14 fathoms. Nearby a smaller conical buoy marks:-
Edgar
HMS Edgar, 3rd rate ship with 70 guns, Captain George Paddon, blew up and sank, 15 October 1711. Gunpowder had been moved between magazines during the morning; accidental spillage might have been the cause.
And on the edge of the Horse and Dean sands, off Southsea Castle, is:-
Boynes Wreck
HMS Boyne, 2nd rate ship of 98 guns, Captain George Gray, flagship of Admiral Sir John Jervis, caught fire in the admiral's cabin about 11.30 am, 1 May 1795. The fire got out of control; when the cable burnt through she drifted onto the edge of Horse Sand, where she blew up about 5.00 pm.

coast line    
coast appearance    
lighthouses    
harbours    

The coast line is basically a thin line. In places the line becomes cliffs; low cliffs west of Hurst:-
image snip from map

more dramatic cliffs at:-
CULVER CLIFF
on the Isle of Wight.
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To landward of the coast line there might be hill hachuring to suggest landform.
At the end of Hurst Spit are three dots, buildings, and a label:-
image snip from map

Light H.
Some harbours are labelled, eg:-
PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR
Langston Harb.
Channels are shown through the shallows in Portsmouth Harbour.

coastal defence    
castles    
fortifications    

Some of the coastal defences of Hampshire are noticed, some labelled:-
Hurst Cas. [dot for a building]
Calshot Cas. [small square]
image snip from map

Fort Monckton [rectangle with 4 corner bastions?]
[polygonal fortifications at Gosport]
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[polygonal fortifications at RN dockyard]
[polygonal fortifications at Portsmouth]
South Sea Castle [small ?square]
[polygonal fortifications at Fort Cumberland?]
There are other buildings which may be other fortifications.

rivers    
Rivers are only indicated by their estuaries, some labelled:-
image snip from map

Beaulieu R.
Lymington Creek [Lymington River]
Southampton River [Southampton Water=Test+Itchen]

relief    
hill hachuring    
windmills    

Hill hachuring is used to suggest the landform immediately behind the coast line. Other relief is not shown, except:-
image snip from map

PORTS DOWN
drawn behind Portsmouth Harbour. A few trees suggest woodland; and a post mill shows a windmill.

settlements    
Only a few coastal places are noticed on the chart.
image snip from map

LYMINGTON is drawn by shaded blocks for buildings along the High Street.
Gosport
PORTSMOUTH
are shaded areas within their fortifications.


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HantsMap Notes -- KNIGHT1.txt
MN: 21.11.2002
last edit: 22.11.2002