Old Map of North Yorkshire by Blaeu

The North Riding of Yorkshire in the Seventeenth Century

The original title of this map, Ducatus Eboracensis Pars Borealis, translates as “the northern part of the County of York.” It depicts the historic North Riding, one of Yorkshire’s three traditional ridings, stretching from the Pennine country in the west to the North Sea coast in the east.

Published in Amsterdam by Joan Blaeu in 1648, the map appeared in successive editions of the Blaeu atlas. Its plate continued in use until 1672, when much of the Blaeu printing house and its stock were destroyed by fire.

The map records a landscape that would still be recognisable to many people with connections to North Yorkshire. Richmond, Northallerton, Thirsk, Pickering and Scarborough appear among numerous villages, estates and market settlements. York is shown near the southern edge, while the coast runs northwards from Scarborough towards the boundary with County Durham.

Rivers form a prominent part of the engraving. The Swale and Ure flow eastwards through the dales, eventually joining to form the Ouse, while the Tees marks much of the northern boundary. Woodland, parks and hills are represented pictorially, giving the map a strong sense of landscape as well as location.

Wapontakes and old county divisions

Rather than modern administrative districts, the map is divided into historic wapontakes. These were local areas used for administration and justice in northern England, broadly comparable to the “hundreds” found in counties farther south.

Names such as Gilling, Hang, Hallikeld, Birdforth, Bulmer, Ryedale, Pickering Lythe and Langbaurgh can be seen across the map. For family historians, these divisions can be particularly useful because older wills, tax records, court papers and parish references were frequently organised by wapontake rather than by a modern district.

Princeton University’s catalogue notes that the map specifically records wapontake boundaries together with rivers, woods, parks and settlements.

A decorative record of Yorkshire society

Across the upper border is an impressive sequence of coats of arms associated with Yorkshire’s nobility and leading families. The Royal Arms appear at the upper left, with the familiar three lions of England at the upper right.

The elaborate title cartouche in the lower-left corner is accompanied by figures representing aspects of rural and working life. Their tools, clothing and produce provide decorative interest while also presenting the county as a place shaped by agriculture, craft and local trade.

Relief is shown through small groups of engraved hills rather than modern contour lines. Together with the coloured boundaries, heraldry and figure work, these details transform a practical county map into a highly decorative piece of seventeenth-century atlas art.

A map for local and family history

Modern North Yorkshire does not follow the exact boundaries of the old North Riding, but many familiar places remain within the area shown. The map is therefore particularly rewarding for anyone tracing Yorkshire ancestry or exploring the history of its towns, villages and landed estates.

Place names often appear in early spellings, and small settlements that receive little prominence on modern maps may be clearly marked. For those with family roots in the dales, the Vale of York, the North York Moors or the coastal communities around Scarborough, the map provides an absorbing link with the county as it was understood more than three and a half centuries ago.