1898: Environs of Liverpool – Royal Atlas of England and Wales

This historic map covers a wide area – in fact there is a second frame attached which shows the Environs of Manchester from the same volume, the Royal Atlas of England and Wales. Scroll over to the right of the map to see Liverpool’s arch rival! The emphasis in this map is on railways and the built up area. There are a lot of places named on the map, and the Wirral’s docks are shown in as much detail as Liverpool’s.

Because of its size and coverage, details are harder to see compared to the two old Plans of Liverpool, the North Sheet and the South Sheet of 1890. However, the parks (including Newsham, Princes and Sefton) are labelled, as are railway stations, perhaps due to the importance of this mode of transport at the time.

The main towns and villages on Merseyside are labelled, such as Crosby, Walton, West Derby and Mossley Hill, giving some idea of the size of settlements the cartographer felt the need to mention.

Many buildings, where situated away from dense urban areas, are marked individually by nondescript black rectangles. Despite the lack of specifics here, it does give a good representation of relative levels of built-up versus rural places. It’s easy to see, for example, how sparsely developed West Derby was at this time, compared to the hatched blocks of Liverpool city centre.

2 Comments on “1898: Environs of Liverpool – Royal Atlas of England and Wales”

  • Jean McCool

    says:

    Hi.
    I’ve just used the environs of Liverpool map in a history assignment as a primary source , but need to reference it , do you have a reference for the map please?
    Author , year of publication etc.
    Thanks

    Reply

    • Hi Jean,
      This map was part of the Royal Atlas of England and Wales, published in 1898 by George Newnes Ltd. of London. The ‘author’ (maybe more properly the cartographer or editor) was J. G. Bartholomew.
      Best wishes,
      Martin

      Reply

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