Chertsey is an old medieval town that is mentioned in the Domesday Book. It owes its existence to the Abbey which dominated the village in the Middle Ages. These maps provide us with a way of finding out about Chertsey.

Study the maps of Chertsey. What can they tell us about Chertsey in the Middle Ages?

Ask your teacher for the outline medieval map. Or, look in Teacher’s Notes and print out a copy.

1a. Find the following buildings on the outline of the medieval map. Briefly say what activity took place there.

Oxlake Mill

Monastery of Chertsey

bridge

the village of Laleham

Burghwey Barn

Redewynd Causeway

track leading to mill

1b. What is the largest building on the map?

1c. What does the size of the Abbey tell you about religion in the Middle Ages?

1d. How accurate do you think this map is?

Look at this map of Chertsey drawn in the 20th century. Compare it to your outline map of medieval Chertsey.

2a. Which parts of medieval Chertsey are still standing today?

2b. List all the differences you can see.

2c. What buildings do you think are the most important ones in Chertsey today?

2d.How accurate do you think this map is?

What was Chertsey Like in the Middle Ages?

Present day Chertsey sits on the river Thames. In the 15th century several streams also ran through it. The lands and the buildings shown on the map belonged to the Benedictine Abbey which created Chertsey. The block of houses at the top represent to village of Laleham.

Medieval picture maps like this one are rare. This one shows most of the major buildings expected in a medieval village; church, barn, mill, wooden bridge as well as a road and track. The medieval map was used to settle a dispute between the abbey and three people who rented lands from the abbey. This explains the labels on the fields which give the name of the tenant, the field’s size and what the field was used for.

Map drawing in the Middle Ages was rather primitive. There were no agreed symbols for buildings as there are today. The cartographers who drew these maps drew little pictures of the key buildings. Distances were estimated and scales were not used. Nonetheless, the maps still indicated where things were in relation to each other. What is important for historians is that this map shows the buildings that existed at the time. From the buildings we can begin to make conclusions about what went on in the village and how the people in Chertsey lived.

Take a look at Chertsey Museum:

Chertsey-on-Thames