Sheet 43, Old Series 1". c1855. Monmouth, Hereford, Malverns, Gloucester. Hand-coloured

Sheet  43, Old Series 1". c1855. Monmouth, Hereford, Malverns, Gloucester. Hand-coloured engraving, 72 x 99.5cm, four quarter sheets dissected, mounted on linen, and folded to 24 x 16.5cm with index map pasted on top outside fold. Topographic date1831 for SW and SE quadrants. Geological date 1845/1855 (sic). Issue date 1853 for NW and NE quadrants. No geological dates on SW and SE quadrants. Some dates lost in the joining of the four quarters. Absent legends indicate very early unrevised, engraved plates. Clear plate marks, faint geological survey blind stamp. Water stains in left margin, otherwise clean, bright colours. In good condition.

About the England & Wales One Inch Old Series

The Geological Survey of England and Wales used the Old Series of the Ordnance Survey topographic map at a scale of one inch to the mile as its basemap, initially. These engraved basemaps were published and revised between 1805 and 1885; the sheet sizes varied and the layout and numbering system were eccentric. The Old Series geological maps were hand-coloured and without geological sections, which were published separately. The GS of E&W published the Old Series from 1850 to 1900, when it switched to the colour printing and the New Series one inch maps. However, old stock of the Old Series continued to be issued, hand-coloured, until the 1930s.

See also: Index Map for England & Wales One Inch Old Series.