Description
Here are some especially interesting details that feature within this vintage map:
It’s “Divided into Hundreds” (the internal patchwork): across the map and you’ll see district names ending in “Hund.” / “Hundred” (e.g., Barstable Hundred, Chafford Hundred, Dengie Hundred). Those fine boundary lines are showing how Essex was governed locally long before modern councils.
The title cartouche on the top right is in itself a work of art and reads: “ESSEX, divided into Hundreds… with the… Towne COLCHESTER described… Anno 1610.”
Bottom-right is a detailed plan of Colchester, with key buildings picked out (you can spot the Castle as a dark blocky structure) and lots of street labels. Beneath it are indexed lists and even “A Scale of Pases” (paces) a unit of measurement derived from the Latin mille passuum (a thousand paces), which is the origin of the modern mile. A pass was typically defined as 5 feet.
Above the Colchester town plan are three coin-like portraits labelled for Constantine, Constantius, and Helena (you can read “HELENA AVG” on one). Colchester (Roman Camulodunum) was often wrapped in Roman and medieval origin stories, and these medallions are John Speed’s way of portraying that this place is old, important, and imperial.
The “Earles of Essex” panel down the left side reflects county pride and is a vertical gallery of coats of arms with names, essentially a mini genealogy / honour roll of the earldom. Maps like this become history lessons and reflect the political gesturing of the age.
An intricate London cameo features at the bottom-left. The sea is not empty, off the east coast there’s a sailing ship and a sea creature. Early maps often filled oceans with motion and menace: it added life, and it made the coastline feel like a real place of adventure the famous Carta Marina map being a classic example.
And finally a scale bar sitting on a sandbank near the Thames estuary the “Scale of Miles” is printed on a pale island-like shape labelled put the scale where it wouldn’t cover important land details, and also shows that the inclusion of sandbanks mattered for navigation.
