Vintage Esso Map of the Eastern Counties and Midlands

Around the area

The breadth of this map is apparent. London occupies the lower edge, while the upper border reaches the Peak District and Lincolnshire coast. Across its width, the industrial Midlands give way to the Fens and the North Sea. Taylor joins these different landscapes with a conspicuous road network, but the little pictures between the roads make clear that this is also a map of places worth noticing along the way.

On the western side, Birmingham sits among the closely connected towns of the Black Country. Wolverhampton, Walsall and Dudley appear within a compact area, while Stoke and the Potteries occupy the northwest. Taylor allows workshops, buildings and local references to sit beside more conventional visitor attractions. This gives the region a broader identity than a procession of picturesque villages: work, manufacture and commerce are part of its character, alongside old churches and surviving castles.

Southwards, Warwick, Kenilworth and Stratford upon Avon lead into an altogether different set of associations. Shakespeare’s country is explicitly identified, and the roads continue towards the Cotswold towns and Oxford. The map places literary memory alongside architecture, encouraging the traveller to connect a name with a person or story. Banbury, Chipping Norton and Stow on the Wold provide smaller points of recognition between the larger centres, keeping the countryside present within the busy design.

Towards the middle of the sheet, Northampton, Bedford and Peterborough mark routes into the eastern counties. Ely’s cathedral rises prominently from the surrounding landscape, while Cambridge appears beneath its own heraldic decoration. The Fens are given a recognisable expanse around places such as Wisbech and March. Here the relative openness contrasts with the crowded western towns. Rivers, settlements and roads create a different pattern, reflecting a country of low horizons rather than upland scenery.

Norfolk occupies much of the upper right. Norwich stands at the centre of converging routes, with the Broads illustrated towards Wroxham and the coast. Cromer, Sheringham and Great Yarmouth suggest seaside journeys, while inland towns such as Aylsham and East Dereham retain their place in the network. Suffolk continues the theme southwards through Bury St Edmunds, Lavenham and Ipswich. Along the shore, Southwold, Aldeburgh and Orford provide a sequence of smaller coastal destinations.

Essex brings the journey back towards London through Colchester and Chelmsford, with Harwich and the Thames estuary emphasising the region’s maritime edge. Throughout the composition, quotations and local anecdotes interrupt the practical business of finding a route. A table of distances from London supplies useful context, yet the drawings repeatedly tempt the eye away from direct travel. The pleasure lies in those diversions: a cathedral beside a market town, an unexpected literary reference, or a tiny scene recalling a local industry. Even the large geographical sweep remains approachable because Taylor breaks it into recognisable episodes. For someone with connections across several counties, this is a map to return to repeatedly, finding a familiar name first and then discovering the surrounding places that give it a wider setting within the landscape of eastern and central England.