Old Map of Kent in 1596 by Philip Symonson - Canterbury, Dover, Maidstone

This print reproduces Philip Symonson's 1596 map of Kent, one of the earliest detailed county surveys of the area and drawn from Symonson's own travels around the county before being engraved by Charles Whitwell. It places the cathedral city of Canterbury and the ancient port of Dover at its heart, with the county town of Maidstone, then spelled Maydston, and the historic port of Rye also carefully marked, offering a genuinely early glimpse of Kent's towns as they stood in the late sixteenth century.

Symonson's map is remarkably thorough for its date, naming dozens of Kent's towns and villages including Tonbridge, Thanet, Edenbridge, Hever, Orpington, Chislehurst, Whitstable, Herne Bay, Broadstairs, Deal, Folkestone, Dartford, Gravesend, Rochester and Margate. In the northwest corner sits London itself, then still a comparatively small city, ringed by outlying settlements such as Newington, Camberwell and Shoreditch that have long since been absorbed into the modern capital. Coastal detail runs the length of the map, tracing the shoreline that would later become known for its Channel ports and, eventually, its seaside resorts.

This is a map that rewards close study, and it looks equally at home above a fireplace, in a study or along a staircase wall. Its detail and age make it a memorable Christmas or birthday gift for anyone from Kent, a fitting anniversary gift for a couple who met near Canterbury or Dover, a warm graduation gift for a Kent-born student setting off into the world, or a considered housewarming gift for someone moving to the county for the first time. However it's given, it brings a genuine sense of place to the wall it hangs on.