Old Map of Gloucestershire in 1611 by John Speed - Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud

This reproduction print is based on John Speed's 1611 map of Gloucestershire, engraved by Jodocus Hondius and published in his landmark atlas The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. It captures the county at the turn of the seventeenth century, with Gloucester itself, already a cathedral city and county town on the banks of the River Severn, taking pride of place, alongside the market town of Cheltenham and the wool town of Stroud tucked into its own valley.

Speed's survey covers a Gloucestershire that once stretched further than today's boundaries, before South Gloucestershire and Bristol were carved away and its northern reaches passed into Warwickshire. Towns and villages including Tewkesbury, Cirencester, Winchcombe, Tetbury, Dursley, Thornbury, Lydney and Bishop's Cleeve all appear across the map, alongside smaller communities such as Yate, Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne that have since grown into the outskirts of modern Bristol. Together they trace a county built on the wool trade and the Severn's water-powered mills, long before the industrial age reshaped the wider Cotswold landscape.

Printed on archival matte paper, this map makes a striking addition to a study, hallway or sitting room, and works especially well for anyone with Gloucestershire roots. It's a popular choice as a birthday gift, a Christmas present for parents who grew up in the county, an anniversary gift for a couple who married near the Cotswolds, or a housewarming gift for someone putting down roots in Cheltenham or Stroud. It also makes a fitting leaving gift for a colleague heading off to start a new chapter elsewhere in the southwest, and stands proudly on its own as a distinctive piece of wall art.