Title:
'A trewe and perfect platt of the cheife messuage and la[n]ds with the wasted farme houses as were late Master Stephen Bekinghams esquver ...'
Level: Category
Miscellaneous
Level: Fonds
MAP OF TOLLESHUNT DARCY AND TOLLESHUNT MAJOR
Scope and Content:
Full title (headed 'The table or index'): 'A trewe and perfect platt of the cheife messuage and la[n]ds with the wasted farme houses as were late Master Stephen Bekinghams esquver and now the landes and farmes of the worshippfull Master Stephen Bekingham [erasure] which said [erasure] wasted farme howses and landes with the cheife messuage and other tenementes and landes are scituate lyinge and beinge in the parishes and fieldes of Tolleshunt Darcye, Tolleshunt Bekingeham and Little Totham within the countie of Essex Also all which sayd landes tenementes and wasted farmes with the cheife house are set out in there true places and proporc[i]ons with all the gates, styles, barrs, rayles cheife pathes pondes, brookes, bridges highwayes and drifte wayes leadinge into through and by anie parte or peycell of the saide landes, with the true contentes of acres roodes and perches written in euerie seuerall and perticuler percell with the most knowne names thereof. Moreouer yow shall finde what landes and tenementes are lyinge and entermingled within the sayde landes as by this saide platt more at large yt doeth & may appeare.'

'Surveyed measured and taken anno domini .1616. by me, John Walker'

Scale of 3 inches to 48 perches [1 inch to 4 chains, or 1:3,168, or 20 inches to 1 mile], but with some shrinkage of parchment. Scale bar and dividers ('Scala perticarum' [scale of perches]).

266 acres in centre of Tolleshunt D’Arcy [from Frame Farm to a point north-west of Scotts Grove], with a small area in centre of Tolleshunt Major [formerly Tolleshunt Beckingham]. Shows field-names [some blank] and acreages; names of adjacent owners; hedges, fences and gates; hedgerow trees (schematically) and woodland; 'Boultwoodes' Green. Buildings including 'the Newe House' and its dovecote shown in perspective view, with rough indication of garden layout at the house. To the west of the house, the road adjoining The Park and Park Croft is labelled 'The olde drifte waye somtime leadinge to the wasted farmes'. Rubrication for titles and some field-names. Plots boldly outlined in green, red, blue and pink [of unknown meaning]. Solid brown border with fillets of alternating red and brown on the inner side, used also to frame panels of text. Compass points written in margin (omitting East, which lies at the top).

One tenement of 6 acres 'lyeth dispersed from the neere to the Heath' and is shown outside its true geographical position. The attached map identifies this with Tolleshunt D'Arcy tithe plot 112. No part of the mapped area appears to be in Little Totham.

Endorsed in an ?18th-century hand: 'A map of lands in Toleshunt Beckingham in Essex in 1616'.

Attached: sections from Ordnance Survey 1;10,560 (6-inch) first edition Essex sheets 45 and 46 [published 1880-1881], joined and marked to show the area covered [probably dating the repair and framing of the map to the late 19th century].
Dates of Creation:
1616, 1881
Extent:
1
Creator Name:
John Walker
Acquisition Source:
Bought by the Essex Record Office, 2022, with financial support from the Friends of the National Libraries.
Language
English.
Physical Characteristics:
1 parchment membrane, backed on textile, with old repairs to damage by creasing and tearing; surface wear; textile backing discoloured. Frame removed by the Essex Record Office, 2022.
Original map 510 x 620 mm.; whole assembly 515 x 950 mm.
Existence of Copies:
The image attached was made in 2021 while the map was still framed.

Key terms

TypeKey termsDescription
Subjects Landscape Map of estate in Tolleshunt D’Arcy and Tolleshunt Major refers to 'wasted farmes', 1616
Subjects Parks Park shown on map of Beckingham estate in Tolleshunt D'Arcy and Tolleshunt Major, 1616
Personal Names John
Walker 		surveyor, Tolleshunt D’Arcy and Tolleshunt Major, 1616
Personal Names Stephen
Beckingham 		Tolleshunt D’Arcy and Tolleshunt Major, 1616
Place Names Tolleshunt D'Arcy Map of Beckingham estate, 1616
Place Names Tolleshunt Major Map of Beckingham estate, 1616
Document Types Manuscript map Beckingham estate in Tolleshunt D’Arcy and Tolleshunt Major, 1616