Drivers' map - Second Edition, 1814
In 1789, a Royal Commission published a report on the New Forest. The report was accompanied by the first detailed map of the Forest; the scale was four inches to one mile. The map was based on surveys undertaken in 1786/87 by Thomas Richardson, William King, Abraham Driver and William Driver. It is commonly known as "Drivers' map". Below, you can download scanned sections of the Second Edition of Drivers' map, published in 1814. A monochrome hardcopy of the map was kindly provided by Anthony Pasmore. The formal title of the map is:
"A Plan of His Majesty's Forest, called the New Forest, in the County of Southampton. Laid down from surveys undertaken by Thos. Richardson, Wm. King and ABm. and Wm. Driver. By order of the Commissioners of the Land Revenue, appointed by Act of Parliament passed in the 26th year of King George IIId. Engraved and published by order of the said Commissioners, by William Faden, Geographer to the King, MDCCLXXXIX".
The map has been scanned at two resolutions - medium and high. The maximum acceptable viewing resolutions are shown to the left and right.
The high resolution files are large: 2-5 megabytes. The medium resolution maps are 0.4-1 megabytes.
Map selection
The map has been scanned in 18 sections; there is considerable overlap between the sections. A section is identified by the prefix "n", "c" or "s" (north, central, south), followed by the number - i.e. the top left section is "n1". A brief description of the content of each map is in the table below.
To download:
Decide which map section you require, and the resolution - high or medium. Click its link in the table. The map will open in a new browser window:
(and subsequent downloads will open in the same window). The map can be saved to your hard disk after viewing in the new browser window by right-clicking the map image and selecting the "Save Picture As" option (precise wording is browser dependent). Simply select this browser window on your Taskbar to return here for map selection.
| High resolution (2-5MB) |
Medium resolution (0.4-1MB) |
Comments/Locations |
| n1 high | n1 medium | Godshill; Sloden; Linwood |
| n2 high | n2 medium | Fritham; Eyeworth; Ocknell |
| n3 high | n3 medium | Bramble Hill; Minstead; Brook |
| n4 high | n4 medium | Bartley; Table of Officers of the Forest |
| n5 high | n5 medium | Title |
| n6 high | n6 medium | Title |
| c1 high | c1 medium | Burley; Bolderwood; Holmsley |
| c2 high | c2 medium | Rhinefield; Bolderwood; Holidays Hill |
| c3 high | c3 medium | New Park; Lyndhurst (W); Acres Down |
| c4 high | c4 medium | Lyndhurst (E); Ashurst; Ferny Crofts; Whitley |
| c5 high | c5 medium | Table of Walks; Ipley; Beaulieu Heath; Holbury |
| c6 high | c6 medium | Table of Walks; Hardley |
| s1 high | s1 medium | Wootton, Wilverley; Map Legend |
| s2 high | s2 medium | Aldridgehill; Hincheslea; Map Legend |
| s3 high | s3 medium | Boldre; Brockenhurst |
| s4 high | s4 medium | Norley; Beaulieu |
| s5 high | s5 medium | Beaulieu River and Heath; Exbury; Holbury |
| s6 high | s6 medium | Hardley; Holbury; Langley |