Old Map of Dorset in 1611 by John Speed - Poole, Weymouth, Dorchester

This print reproduces John Speed's 1611 map of Dorset, sometimes referred to in old documents as Dorsetshire, engraved by Jodocus Hondius and included in Speed's landmark English atlas, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. It captures the county's coastline, market towns, and rolling chalk downland exactly as Speed's surveyors recorded them at the start of the seventeenth century.

Poole and its natural harbour appear alongside Weymouth, Dorchester as the county town, and Bridport, which Speed's engraving labels in its older spelling of Birdport. Portland juts out along the coast, while inland you'll find Blandford, Wareham, Shaftesbury, and Cranborne. The map even stretches to Yeovil, spelled Evill on the original engraving, just across the county boundary in Somerset, a nice reminder that Speed's surveyors often included a little of the surrounding countryside for context.

Every hill shading and decorative flourish from the 1611 engraving has been carefully restored, keeping the linework crisp and the lettering legible. It's a fitting corporate gift for a Dorset-based business celebrating an anniversary, a memorable Christmas present for a relative who grew up near Poole or Weymouth, or a warm wedding gift for a couple settling in Dorchester or Bridport. Anyone moving to the area will appreciate discovering how their new home looked on paper long before the county's seaside towns became holiday destinations.