Description
The maps on sheet 13 show the Great Torrington district as it was around 1840. The maps show buildings, roads (with turnpike roads and toll-gates distinguished), rivers and streams, field boundaries and cultivation, woodland, parkland, orchards, archaeological features, historic parish and hundred boundaries, and a host of small features of the landscape. The maps include a considerable number of field-names.
A special feature of sheet 13 is the town map of Great Torrington in 1843, which is based mainly on a map made in that year by John Wood. Also noteworthy is the mapping of the Rolle Canal which connected Great Torrington with the navigable part of the River Torridge below Weare Giffard. The canal, which existed from 1827 until 1871, is shown on the four-inch map on this sheet, except for about one mile of its length at its northern end.
The maps are printed on a large sheet of quality paper. The sheet is folded to A4 size and comes with a protective sleeve of archive-quality polyester.
The Devon in 1840 series is for anyone who has an interest in the historical landscape. If your Victorian ancestors lived in Devon, you will find no more detailed picture of the locality in which they lived. Local historians and archaeologists will use these maps alongside original documents, and will appreciate the place-name index and the Guide to Historical Sources included on each sheet.
