Vintage Map of Cumberland by Joan Blaeu, 1645

Cumberland on Joan Blaeu’s 1645 Map

Joan Blaeu published this map in Amsterdam in 1645 under the title Cumbria, vulgo Cumberland. The word vulgo means “commonly” or “in the common language,” indicating that the territory was commonly known as Cumberland.

The distinction remains important today. Cumberland was a historic English county bordering Scotland, Northumberland, County Durham, Westmorland and the Irish Sea. The much larger modern county of Cumbria was created in 1974 from Cumberland, Westmorland and adjoining areas. Blaeu’s engraving should therefore be understood as a map of historic Cumberland rather than modern Cumbria in its entirety.

The map was included in the fourth part of Blaeu’s Le Théâtre du Monde ou Nouvel Atlas. Published in French in Amsterdam, this 1645 atlas volume introduced Blaeu’s celebrated series of English and Welsh county maps to an international readership. The maps drew upon earlier English cartography but were newly engraved and presented in the elaborate decorative style associated with the Blaeu publishing house.

Cumberland’s towns and villages are distributed across a landscape represented through rivers, lakes and pictorial groups of hills. Carlisle occupies its important position near the Scottish border, while Penrith, Cockermouth and Keswick are among the other recognisable places. The map predates modern roads, contour lines and scientific height measurement, so it should not be interpreted as a modern topographical survey.

One particularly notable feature is Hadrian’s Wall, labelled “The Picts Wall” across the northern part of the map. This was a name commonly applied to the Roman frontier in early modern Britain. Its inclusion reflects the continuing interest of seventeenth-century historians and mapmakers in the region’s Roman remains.

The upper-left corner carries the royal arms supported by the lion and unicorn. Other heraldic devices refer to people and titles historically associated with Cumberland. In the lower-right corner, Blaeu placed an ornate Baroque title cartouche accompanied by pastoral figures, children and sheep—decoration that evokes the county’s rural economy rather than documenting particular agricultural activity.

The map appeared during an especially troubled year for Carlisle. Royalist forces held the city and castle during the First English Civil War, but a prolonged siege by Scottish Covenanter and Parliamentarian forces created severe shortages. Following the Royalist defeat at Naseby, Carlisle surrendered on 25 June 1645. This does not mean Blaeu’s engraving records the siege: its connection is one of date and historical setting rather than military cartography.

Cumberland was traditionally divided into five wards: Cumberland, Eskdale, Leath, Allerdale Above Derwent and Allerdale Below Derwent. These were administrative divisions comparable in some respects to the hundreds found elsewhere in England. They help explain the county’s historic organisation, but the Blaeu map should not be described as clearly surveying or delineating each ward.

Blaeu’s map is valuable for the picture it offers of Cumberland before the industrial expansion of towns such as Whitehaven. Whitehaven’s harbour and coal trade began developing during the seventeenth century, but its greatest growth came after this map was published. The engraving therefore captures the county before later mining, port development and transport networks transformed parts of its western landscape.

Today, Cumbria, vulgo Cumberland is appreciated both as an early representation of the historic county and as a richly decorated example of Dutch Golden Age mapmaking. Its combination of geographical names, Roman history, heraldry and pastoral ornament makes it particularly rewarding for anyone exploring Cumberland’s landscape or family history.