On the original map of the royal forest of Dartmoor : illustrating the perambulation of Henry III., 1240 / by C. Spence Bate.

  • Bate, C. Spence (Charles Spence), 1818-1889.
Date:
[1872]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the original map of the royal forest of Dartmoor : illustrating the perambulation of Henry III., 1240 / by C. Spence Bate. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    so from thence linyallie through the midst of Mistorr moore to a rocke called Mistorrpan, and from thence linyallie to Dedlakeheadd wch- they thincke to he the next bound wch- is called in the old records Meuborough, and from thence lin- yallie northwardes to Luntesborowe, wch- they thincke to be the same that is called in the records LuLlingesete, and from thence linyallie to Wester Redlake between wch- said two bounds the wester quarter endeth; and from thence north- ward to Rattlebrooke foote and soe from thence to the headd of the same Rattlebrooke, and so from thence linyallie unto Steinegtorr and from thence linyallie to Langaford, al’s Sandyford, and so from thence linyallie to the ford wch- lyeth in the east syde of the chappie of Halstocke and so from thence linyallye unto the said hill called Cosdon, al’s Cosson, wher they did begin. Devon and Cornwall were disforested by Henry III. by Charter, and a Perambulation defining the Royal limits was made in 1240. Several copies of the Charter were executed, of which I have been able to see three—one published in Risdon’s Survey of Devon, one in an Appen- dix to Rowe’s Perambulation of Dartmoor, and one on the back of an old map, to which I wish now to draw attention. The map has the peculiarity of not attempting to be exact; but is evidently drawn upon a plan which was probably most capable of being understood at the time. Distances and form are not attempted with precision; but only relatively in regard to other things and places. Yet with all this cumbersome arrangement there is a definite method in the scheme that, with a little study, shows the whole to be wonderfully consistent with the topography of the district. All objects, such as hills, marshes, or tumuli, are defined, when they are recorded on the map, by a circle. Bound- stones or pillars are figured to rudely represent a rough unhewn stone. Rivers are drawn so as approximately to resemble a stream; they are painted white within black margins, and have the water shaded off with blue longi- tudinal lines. The rivers are only drawn so far as to indicate their relation to the forest. When they form part of the boundary, they are drawn so as to correspond with the circle that represents