96 Christopher & John Greenwood 1827

A surveyor of Wakefield, Christopher Greenwood (1786-1855) moved to London in 1818. He compiled and published large-scale maps of the counties of England during the years 1817-31 (the first one to be completed - Yorks - was surveyed 1815-17). From 1821 he was in partnership with his brother, John, who was also a surveyor and publisher (fl.1821-40) and they traded together as C & J Greenwood.

The Greenwoods had many other partners from time to time and many addresses but both the maps of Devon were published from Regent Street and their complete Atlas (98) from Burleigh Street in the Strand.

They carried out entirely new surveys in opposition to the Ordnance Survey. Their accurate and detailed maps of the country took only 17 years to complete compared to the nearly 100 years by the Ordnance. They also used the scale 1 inch = 1 mile. The County maps sold for 3 Guineas and the whole set was available for £125. Devon was surveyed in 1825-26, and the map appeared in 1827.

The map contained a vignette of the North West View of Exeter Cathedral, which has the signatures of W Woolnoth sculpt and R Creighton delt; the latter may have been the same Creighton who produced maps for Lewis (103 and 113). The map also showed County and Hundred boundaries, market and parish towns, villages, Parliamentary Seats, turnpike and cross roads, tolls, churches, chapels, houses, castles, canals, mills, parks, pleasure grounds and railways such as the Heytor granite railway and the Plymouth Railway to Dartmoor together with the Prison. A reduced version appeared in their Atlas of the Counties of England, published in parts from 1829 (97).

Although printed originally on nine sheets the final sheet with the vignette of Exeter Cathedral is sometimes missing: probably the vignette was framed and is hanging in a number of hallways! In later states the map was generally issued in one of three forms:

          1) the separate sheets were bound into a book - in this state each sheet had an imprint either top or bottom: London. Published by Greenwood & Co. Febry 20th 1827;

          2) the sheets were trimmed (losing the imprints) and pasted into two or three* vertical pieces, then cut up, linen backed and cased;

          3) the sheets were trimmed (losing the imprints) and pasted as one sheet then cut up, linen backed and cased.

Size 1900 x 1865 mm.                                                                                                          SCALE OF STATUTE MILES (1+7 = 200 mm).

MAP of the County of DEVON From an Actual Survey MADE IN THE YEARS 1825 & 1826. BY C. & J. GREENWOOD, Most Respectfully Dedicated to the Nobility, Clergy and Gentry OF THE COUNTY BY THE PROPRIETORS GREENWOOD, PRINGLE & Co. Regent Street Pall Mall LONDON. PUBLISHED FEBRY 2 1827. (Ea).  Map on 9 sheets. Large vignette of NORTH WEST VIEW OF EXETER CATHEDRAL (Ee). Piano key border with West Longitude from Greenwich (DeOS). Inset map of LUNDY ISLAND with separate border (Aa). Scale and EXPLANATION (Ae).

 * Illustrated in image section..