Old Map of England & Wales in 1579 by Christopher Saxton - England, Wales, London
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This print reproduces Christopher Saxton's landmark map of England and Wales, first published in 1579 and widely regarded as the earliest printed survey to lay out the two countries together in such comprehensive detail. Saxton, often called the father of English cartography, worked county by county to plot towns, rivers and coastlines across the realm, so London appears anchored on the Thames alongside other emerging centres of the day such as York, Bristol, Norwich, Exeter and Oxford, with the Welsh coastline curling round past Cardiff and the border country near Chester.
What makes Saxton's map so remarkable is the sheer density of detail packed onto the page: hundreds of towns, villages and market crossings are named in the spelling of Elizabethan English, while rivers including the Thames and the Severn thread their way toward the coast. The surrounding seas are dotted with sailing ships and imagined sea creatures, a reminder that this was produced in an age when much of the coastline around Britain was still being properly charted for the first time. Slivers of Scotland and Ireland appear at the map's edges too, giving a genuine sense of how England and Wales sat within the wider British Isles during the reign of Elizabeth I, decades before the union of the crowns.
As a piece of wall art, this map suits a study, hallway or living room beautifully, its aged parchment tones sitting comfortably against both period and contemporary interiors. It also makes a memorable gift: a Christmas present for a history enthusiast, a housewarming gift for someone settling into a new home, a Father's Day treat for a dad who loves maps and old atlases, or a leaving gift for a colleague who has spent years working across England and Wales. Whatever the occasion, it brings genuine historical weight and a real talking point to any room it hangs in.
