Mapping Sheffield

From town plans to the Ordnance Survey

I suspect we all like old maps. Anyone with an interest in the history and heritage of their town or city, or even neighbourhood, will have had their eye caught by old maps of the area. What is shown, what’s there and what’s not there, the names that have survived, and those that have changed - all are fascinating to see. Before we had photographs we only had writing and mapping to record on paper what places looked like. It isn’t just what is shown on the maps though, but also the evolution of maps themselves - early maps (or plans) were usually about property ownership, disputes, or the purchase of land. Those maps tended to be commissioned by people who had a financial interest in the area depicted. Within half a century though mapping was being transformed into that we recognise and still use today.