Chertsey Abbey - Detail from a medieval map 15th Century (E 164/25 f.222)
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?
Look at Source 1
1. This is a medieval map of Chertsey.
Look at Source 2
2. Look at this map of Chertsey drawn in the 20th century. Compare it to your map of medieval Chertsey.
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.
The Domesday Book
(435.06kb)KS 2: Geography & History: MapsThis lesson provides pupils with a glimpse of a medieval village. By using a printout of the outline above, pupils can identify the major buildings and make inferences about medieval village life.
Medieval picture maps are not accurate but they do give pictorial representations. The writing on fields gives details about their size and their use. There is commonland, meadow and land belonging to the abbey. Pupils could research the nature of holding land in feudal times. A further task may be to ask the pupils to draw a modern day map of medieval Cherstey using standard symbols.
Finally, pupils are encouraged to make a comparison between medieval and modern village life.
They can see areas of continuity as well as change.
Sources
Medieval Map : E 146/25 f.222
Modern Map : Ordnance Survey.
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