This page was produced with the assistance and advice of the Digital and Physical Mapping Intern Carmel Allinson (Undergraduate Lancaster)
The Six Inch Lancaster 1910 and the 25 Inch Lancaster 1913 OS Maps are from the National Library of Scotland.
All other maps are from the Lancaster University Library maps collection
All maps are are licenced Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0) which means you are able to use them and adapt them for use in lessons if correctly attributed.
This attribution could look like "Binns 1821 Map of Lancaster" from Lancaster University Library is licensed under CC BY 4.0
The first map of Lancaster was made in 1607 by John Speed, who later became the first Englishman to produce an Atlas of the world. Speed completed his survey of the town in a single day, and he published the map in his book The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. Shown are some of the town's major buildings and streets, including the castle, 'Penny Strete' and 'Market Strete', all of which still exist today. More information can be found in this article.
More early maps of Lancaster can be found on our page Lancaster Historic Maps.
The earliest map of Lancashire that we hold in our collection is from 1577, by Christopher Saxton. Saxton was the produced the first county maps of England and Wales and is sometimes referred to as the 'father of English cartography'. Details on this map include depictions of hills, forests and settlements. From this it seems that at this time Lancaster was already the biggest settlement in the area.
Maps of this era were often embellished with drawings, often animals, ships or coats of arms (as in Blaeu's 1662 map of Lancashire) intended to add extra information and context to a map. The coat of arms of John of Gaunt, former Duke of Lancaster, is shown here.
As seen in Mercator's map from around 1620 sometimes this included illustrations of sea creatures. Although they look fantastical to us now, these were often an attempt at accurately depicting what lived in the sea. You can read more about this here.
Produced in 1836, this is not the oldest map of Lancashire but does show the county several centuries before others, based on the 1086 Doomsday Survey. You can see that our names for towns have changed, and notice that some places which would later become more significant cities e.g. 'loncastre' (Lancaster) are given less prominence than what are now smaller places e.g, 'haltun' (Halton).
The 1910 Ordnance Survey map of Lancaster is a particularly interesting one as much of the city remains recognisable to us today, although lots has changed.
Central Lancaster High School
Central Lancaster High School was just a field! Opening in 1966 originally as Castle Secondary Modern School, it merged with Greaves Secondary Modern school in 1986 to become what it is today.
Lancaster Girl's Grammar School
By 1910 Lancaster Girl's Grammar School had only been open for a few years, and was located in the Storey Institute on Meeting House Lane (left). You can see that the modern site for the school and sixth form (right) were not yet in use.
Lancaster Royal Grammar School
Although not its original location, by 1910 Lancaster Royal Grammar School had moved to its present site. The school has expanded since, and now occupies land and buildings that once were part of Lancaster Union Workhouse.
Our Lady's Catholic College
Founded in 1964, Our Lady's Catholic College didn't exist in 1910, and instead was just fields.
Ripley St Thomas
In 1910 Ripley St Thomas was called Ripley Hospital, and catered to orphan children. Ripley Boys' and St. Thomas Girls' Schools amalgamated to become the modern school in 1966.
Did you know...
The National School for Boys, built on the banks of the river Lune, used to be surrounded by a shipyard. Binns' 1821 map of Lancaster illustrates the planks of wood in the yard - you can imagine how noisy it was.
Lancaster used to have trams - follow the tramways from the train station through the town centre on the 1913 Ordnance Survey map of Lancaster. These operated between 1903-1930 and there used to be tram sheds near Dalton Square.
Lancaster Castle has historically been used as a prison, until as recently as 2011, as seen on the Ordnance Survey map of 1913.
This map also notes almshouses, which traditionally provided accommodation for free to the elderly who otherwise would not be able to support themselves. Several of these existed in Lancaster at the time. 'Site of Roman station' is also noted, indicating the fort that was built there between 60-73 AD.
You may also notice evidence of Lancasters Maritime History. Streets like 'Rope Walk' and 'Cable Street' were originally used for twisting long strands of material into ropes, and then those ropes were twisted into nautical cables, tougher and more waterproof than normal rope.
These names remain on modern streets in Lancaster, although the long and tree-lined 'Ladies Walk' has been lost to development of the area, instead lending its name to a much less picturesque industrial estate.
A feature that cannot be missed on any Lancaster maps of the 1800s and 1900s is the increase in the number of Workshouses and Asylums, driven by attitudes in the 19th century. The 1919 OS Map shows what support was provided to poor and disabled Lancastrians, and is at the peak of the growth of these institutions.
Asylums were often grand and imposing buildings, but were not somewhere many 19th century people would ever want to live.
Our UK-wide maps include maps of Ancient Britain (more available as physical copies in the Map Cabinets) and railway maps.
Roman Britain
This is an Ordnance Survey map of Roman Britain, showing the main roads, towns, forts and more. Also included is an inset of Hadrian's Wall from Old Kilpatrick to Bridgeness (below).
Britain in the Dark Ages
The Ordnance Survey also produced a map of Britain in the Dark Ages. Details include Saxon, Latin and Celtic place names, sites of battles and burials.
Railway Map of England and Wales
Produced around 1900, this map shows in great detail the extensive railway and canal network of England and Wales at the time. Many stations in use here have since closed down.
