Published almost 300 years ago by master mapmaker John Rocque, this is the first detailed map of North West London. It was originally published in 1746, following a highly accurate survey of London and its suburbs starting in 1740. It is a beautiful, highly detailed and extremely rare old map.
This is sheet 13 of 16, covering the London Boroughs of Brent, Harrow and Ealing, all of which form part of Greater London, located to the northwest of the city.
To the right of the map is Wembley Green, where today you can find Wembley Park and Wembley Football Stadium, home of the England men's and women's football teams.
Northolt can also be seen on this map. In the 18th century, some of these lands were enclosed, where the grass was grown and sold as hay in London; necessary at the time to provide feed for the horses in London, where they did not have adequate access to pasture and grazing was not viable.
Some of the locations on this map include: Wembley, Preston, Alperton, Roxeth Green, Harrow, Harrow on the Hill, Northolt, Horsenden, Greenford Green, Sudbury, Brent and Ealing.
Rocque published two major maps of London. This map here is a single sheet from a very fine 16-sheet map of "London and 10 miles around". His other map, a 24-sheet map of central London with magnificent detail, is far more famous.
This map looks great at all sizes: 18x12in (46x30.5cm), 16x20in (40.5x51cm), 18x24in (45.5x61cm), 24x36in (61x91.5cm), 30x45in (76x114.5cm), 33x50in (84x127cm), 40x60in (102x153cm) and 47x70in (120x178cm), but it looks best at larger sizes.
I can create beautiful, large prints of this map up to 120in (305cm). Please get in touch if you're looking for larger, customised or different framing options.
The model in the listing images is holding the 24x36in (61x91.5cm) version of this map.
The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.
If you’re looking for something slightly different, another option would be this amazing map of North West London by Edward Stanford in 1898-9.
Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.
This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving or housewarming gift for someone interested in North West London or someone from the London Borough of Brent, Harrow or Ealing.
This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.