Antique Map of Somersetshire, Bridgwater Bay and the Bristol Channel, 1885

This is an original antique map of Somersetshire, printed by lithography with original hand coloring and dated 1885 by the atlas it comes from. The cartouche at the upper left reads "SOMERSETSHIRE", followed by "REDUCED FROM THE ORDNANCE SURVEY", "BY EDWD WELLER. F.R.G.S." and "Divided into 5 mile squares", with a scale of British Statute Miles and a key to boroughs, boundaries, divisions, railways and stations.

The Bristol Channel fills the upper left of the sheet, with "BRIDGWATER BAY" cut into the coast and "MOUTH OF THE RIVER SEVERN" lettered above. Across the water the Glamorganshire shore of South Wales is drawn with Cardiff, Barry and Lavernock, and Flat Holme and Steep Holme lie between. Exmoor and the hills behind Porlock and Minehead are modeled in heavy hachure in the west. The county is washed by hand by parliamentary division, with the western and eastern divisions in rose and the mid division in green, each lettered across the map. Crimson borough washes mark Bristol and Bath at the top right, Frome on the east, and Taunton in the west. Wells, Glastonbury, Bridgwater, Yeovil and Chard are lettered, and Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire and Devonshire are named around the margins. The sheet is divided into five mile squares with letters and figures in the border.

A printed note explains that "The official names of Railway Stations are all engraved in a special character, thus, Clayton; except where indicated by the name of the town being in bold letters and identical with the name of the Station." The sheet number "37" is printed at the upper right.

It comes from The New Large Scale Ordnance Atlas of the British Isles, published in London by G. W. Bacon and Co., and is dated 1885 by the volume it was taken from; no date is printed on the sheet itself. Edward Weller (1819 to 1884) was a London map engraver and draftsman and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Vertical fold down the center from binding. Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin.

This is an original antique map, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.