Mapping The Past

Oldmapsonline is an internet resource that allows the user to search library collections for period maps that may be viewed online. http://www.oldmapsonline.org Search options allow for a range of dates as well as a location search. Searching for Furness Vale returned a wide selection including "Cary's New Map of England And Wales, With Part Of Scotland" This was published in 1794 at a scale of 1:360,000.  The road between Disley and Whaley Bridge still followed the route of the old Roman Road. The turnpike through Furness Vale was not opened until 1804. The Peak Forest Canal is shown although it was still under construction when the map was surveyed. This is a small scale map and our village is not shown.  Some of the place names were spelt quite differently.

Along The Derby Road

This map of 1719 is reproduced from "A Pocket Guide To The English Traveller". The route is from Warrington to Manchester and onwards to Derby. The road through Furness Vale had not been built at that time so the route follows Buxton Old Road through Longside. Yeardsley Hall and Jodrell's lands are marked as are Disley, Lyme and Whaley Bridge although some of the spelling may seem unfamiliar.

The maps were engraved by Thomas Gardner, based on John Ogilby's strip maps of 1675

Old Maps

A superb resource for  those interested in exploring old maps is the web site Old Maps Online http://www.oldmapsonline.org

Searching for "Furness Vale" returned a huge number of maps of Cheshire from different periods. This map of 1843 is from the Ordnance Survey first series at a scale of 1:63360. There is a zoom facility view the map in detail.  http://visionofbritain.org.uk/iipmooviewer/iipmooviewer_new.html?map=first_edition/lm_81