When purusing Oxford’s Bodliean Map Room site, it is hard to miss the Gough Map. Dating from approximately 1360 A.D., the Gough Map of Great Britain (or The Bodliean Map) is presumed to be the oldest surviving road map of Great Britain. It was donated to the Oxford Bodeliean Library by Richard Gough in 1809. The cartographer is unknown and the map is orientated so that east is at its top. There is evidence of hierarchy (e.g. more important rivers are given more prominance,) and many settlements are lavishly decorated. Routes in and out of London are indicated in red, with distances marked in roman numerals. The British Academy has a project dedicated to finding out more about the map: how it was made, who made it, and why it was made. They have made an interactive Gough Map available using ESRI’s ArcIMS software, allowing users to pan, zoom in on and identify various map features. 

[tags]antique maps, Gough Map, Cartographic History, Bodliean Map [/tags]