Richard Horwood (1757/8 – 3 October 1803) was a surveyor and cartographer. He is mainly remembered for his large-scale plan of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and its suburbs published in 32 sheets between 1792 and 1799. He also published a plan of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in six sheets in 1803.

Map of London

Between 1792 and 1799 Horwood published a ''Plan of the Cities of London and

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

the Borough of

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

and Parts adjoining Shewing every House''. At the time this was the largest map ever printed in Britain. After he decided to chart the entire city of London, down to each individual building, Horwood set about soliciting subscriptions to finance the project in 1790. His intention was to publish the complete map within two years, at a scale of 26 inches to the mile. However, the scope of the project was so extensive, and his cost to complete it so high, that rather than taking the estimated two years, the project took almost ten to complete. Despite acquiring royal patronage from King George III, the project suffered financial hardship, making it even more difficult to produce. However, Horwood eventually published the entire map, consisting of 32 sheets (four rows of eight columns). The last sheet was made available in 1799. In 1800 he wrote of the map, in a letter to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce:

Map of Liverpool

Horwood also published a similar large-scale plan of

, in six sheets, in July 1803. He died on 3 October 1803 in Liverpool, and was buried in

Toxteth Unitarian Chapel Toxteth Unitarian Chapel is in Park Road, Dingle, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Since the 1830s it has been known as The Ancient Chapel of Toxteth. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed bu ...

Legacy

After Horwood's death, the 32 plates of his London map passed to the cartographer and a publisher

William Faden William Faden (1749 – 1836) was an English cartographer and a publisher of maps. He was the royal geographer to King George III. He replaced Thomas Jefferys in that role. The title of "geographer to the king" was given to various people in th ...

. Faden published three further revised and updated editions of the map, under Horwood's name and still fundamentally his work, in 1807, 1813 and 1819. In 1985 a reduced

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...

edition of the 1813 map was published in volume format by Harry Margary in association with the Guildhall Library, with a superimposed grid, full place-name index, and introductory notes by Paul Laxton, under the title ''The A to Z of Regency London''.Laxton 1985. Sections of the 1813 edition are reproduced in Charles Palliser's novel ''

The Quincunx ''The Quincunx (The Inheritance of John Huffam)'' is the epic first novel of Charles Palliser. It takes the form of a Dickensian mystery set in early 19th century England, but Palliser has added the modern attributes of an ambiguous plot and unr ...

'' (1989). The story is set a few years after the publication of the map, which is used by one of the characters. A selection of the Horwood maps were used in the publication of ''Timbuctoo'', a novel based on the adventures of Robert Adams, which includes five large fold-out maps of London.

References

Bibliography

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External links

British Library Online Gallery: London Westminster Southwark and parts adjoining by R. Horwood 1795
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MOTCO Enterprises: Horwood map of London Westminster Southwark and parts adjoining 1792–9
(detailed freely-searchable map; site defunct as of 9 March 2017)
Romantic London
Project overlaying the map with 18th century data. {{DEFAULTSORT:Horwood, Richard 1750s births 1803 deaths English cartographers 18th-century cartographers Publishers (people) from London