A street map on a scale of 3.625 inches to the mile, covering 45 square miles,
extending from Holland Park in the West, to Blackwall Reach in the East, and from
Haverstock Hill and Dalston in the North, to Parsons Green and Blackheath in the South.
Including a newly created street index of over 6,000 places, linked to the map.
Navigation of this version has been designed to be intuitive, but explicit instructions, interesting supplemental pages and the licence agreement you have accepted can be found via the Site Map.
Start with the Key Map or the Street Index page and you shouldn't go too far wrong.
According to Darlington & Howgego*, James Wyld published his first map of London in 1823, after he purchased William Faden's map business. Many varieties followed, often labelled as 'new'. New, then as now, did not always mean 'fully revised', but was often a reprint of an older map, with perhaps a few recent developments added.
The map presented here was sold in a cardboard cover labelled 'Wyld’s Map of London and Visitor’s Guide 1861'. The map inside is titled 'Wyld’s New Plan of London'. The visitor’s guide mentioned is not present in my copy and I think the date disingenuously refers only to that.
It appears to be the genuinely new map first issued for visitors to the Great Exhibition in 1851 and sold in this format (with guide) from 1852 [Hyde† No. 25 (1) and (4)]. Postal Districts were introduced in 1857 and added to some editions and new railways added from 1862. It was still being sold without major revision up until at least 1877.
This edition is only very slightly changed from the 1851 original. Crystal Palace (home to the Great Exhibition) was moved to Penge Common in 1854 and is still shown in Hyde Park, but not coloured red as it had been. Postal Districts are not shown. Chelsea Bridge and Battersea Park (although not opened until 1858) are shown here and on the original. The replacement of Hungerford suspension bridge by Charing Cross railway bridge in 1861 is not shown. Victoria Station (opened 1860) and the railway line running to it are not on the original but are shown here painted on, not engraved. None of the street renaming that started in 1857 is shown. Not even the largest, on 20th February that year, when New Road became Marylebone Road, Euston Road and Pentonville Road.
I hope you enjoy using the map. Your comments, corrections, criticism or praise are equally welcome and will all receive an appropriate reply. Other resources for exploring London's past can be found at :- www.maps.thehunthouse.com.
*Darlington, Ida & Howgego, James, Printed Maps of London, George Philip & Son Ltd., 1964 †Hyde, Ralph, Printed Maps of Victorian London 1851-1900, Wm. Dawson & Sons Ltd., 1975
© Copyright Bruce Hunt www.maps.thehunthouse
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