Old Map of London & Environs in 1790 by W. Faden - Kent, Surrey, Middlesex

This print reproduces William Faden's 1790 map of London and its environs, a striking large-format survey that extended some twenty-five miles out from the capital in every direction. At its centre sit the City of Westminster and the City of London, both still comparatively compact and surrounded by open countryside, with the counties of Kent, Surrey, Middlesex, Essex, Sussex and Hertfordshire all meeting at its edges.

What makes Faden's map so striking is how little of what we now think of as London actually existed in 1790. Villages that are now firmly inner-city, such as Peckham, Bethnal Green, Deptford and Hackney, appear here as separate settlements, still some distance from the built-up centre. Further out, the map reaches Reigate and Godstone to the south, Leatherhead to the southwest, Enfield to the north and Billericay away in Essex, giving a real sense of the market towns and villages that would, over the following century, gradually be drawn into the growing metropolis.

This map makes an eye-catching feature for a hallway, office or study, particularly for anyone with a fondness for London's history. It's a popular birthday or Christmas gift for a Londoner, a fitting retirement gift for someone who has spent a career in the city, and a considered housewarming gift for a friend moving to London for the first time. It also works well as an anniversary gift for a couple who met somewhere within its boundaries, standing as a distinctive and genuinely conversation-starting piece of wall art.