Old Map of Cornwall in 1611 by John Speed - Truro, Falmouth, Penzance, St Austell

Tin built Cornwall's medieval economy long before John Speed set out to map the county in 1611, and the ancient stannary system that governed the tin trade shapes much of what this map records. Published in Speed's Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, the first county-by-county atlas of England and Wales, the Cornwall plate was engraved in Amsterdam by Jodocus Hondius and printed in London from 1611, carrying the same decorative cartouche, scale bar and coat of arms that mark every sheet in Speed's atlas.

Truro appears toward the centre of the map, one of the stannary towns where tin was weighed and taxed under a system dating back to the medieval period, while Falmouth and Penzance are marked along the county's deeply indented southern coast, both later to grow into significant harbour towns as trade expanded over the following centuries. Redruth sits inland amid the mining district that would come to dominate Cornish industry, and St Austell appears among the market towns of the county's central belt. The Lizard and Land's End are traced at the map's furthest tips, marking England's most south-westerly points, with the Isles of Scilly often shown as a separate inset beyond.

From the tin-mining parishes inland to the fishing harbours along the coast, the map rewards close and repeated study, and makes a memorable gift for a Cornish wedding, retirement to the coast, or a collector drawn to Speed's original county atlas. It is reproduced at high resolution from the original 1611 engraving and available unframed in a range of sizes to suit any room.