The Charles Close Society for the study of Ordnance Survey Maps -
The Mudge Map of Kent

On 1st January 1801 the very first Ordnance Survey map was published - The Mudge Map as it is called consisted of a four-sheet 1:63360 (one-inch-to-a-mile) map of Kent and was based entirely on the official Ordnance Surveys. The map was was actually published by William Faden known as Geographer to the King.

The full title on the Map is:

General Survey
of
ENGLAND and WALES.
An entirely new & accurate Survey
OF THE
COUNTY of KENT,
WITH PART of the COUNTY of ESSEX,
Done by the Surveying Draftsmen
of
His Majesty's Honourable Board of Ordnance,
on the basis of the Trigonometrical Survey
carried on by their Orders under the direction of
CAPTn W.MUDGE of the ROYAL ARTILLARY: F.R.S.
London
Published by W. Faden, Geographer to His Majesty and
to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
Charing CroSs, January, 1st 1801

These notes are taken from these publications which contain more detail of the Mudge Map and Ordnance Survey history:-

Ordnance Survey maps: a concise guide for historians by Richard Oliver, Charles Close Society 1993, 192pp, B5, softback, £12.95. ISBN 1 870598 13 X - available from the Charles Close Society.

The County of Kent in 1801, A reproduction of the first published Ordnance Survey map of Great Britian. Published by Harry Margary, Lympne Castle in asssociation with Kent County Library.
ISBN 0 903541 42 4 - Still available - excellent value - a fascinating map.

Ordnance Survey Small-scale maps, Indexes: 1801-1998 by Roger Hellyer, published by David Archer, 1999.
ISBN 0 9517579 54. Every small-scale Ordnance Survey Map Index of England,Wales, Ireland and Scotland you should ever need is here.

A History of the Ordnance Survey, Edited by W.A Seymour. published by Dawson 1980 ISBN 0 7129 0979 6. A hefty book with lots of detail.

Ordnance Survey - Map makers to Britain since 1791, by Owen and Pilbeam, published in 1992 jointly by Ordnance Survey ISBN 031 900249 7 and HMSO ISBN 011 701507 5 . A very readable history of the Ordnance Survey - good value.

The early years of the Ordnance Survey by Col Sir Charles Close, published in 1926 and reprinted in 1969 with an introduction by J.B Harley

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