Conservation of Wrington Estate Maps

Generous donations from Wrington and Burrington Parish Councils, the Mendip Society and the Langford History Group, as well as from a number of individual residents, have enabled Bristol Record Office to have two of the historic Wrington Estate Maps professionally conserved. This means that they are now available for the public to view and use. Digital images have been made of these and will soon be available to view on the website. The Gallery section has some photos taken of the maps at the Bristol Record Office (BRO).

On October 21st, Alex Kolombos, chairman of the Langford History Group, presented a cheque for £918 to Talei Rounds, Archivist at the BRO.

The older of the two maps was commissioned from John Rocque in 1738 by William Pulteney, who had purchased the Wrington Estate. It shows the Burrington tithing. Equivalent maps of the other two tithings, Wrington and Broadfield (Redhill), are in better condition and can also be viewed at the BRO. Unfortunately, Rocque’s map of the whole estate has deteriorated beyond repair. However, a later map of the whole estate, one commissioned in 1832 by the then Marquess of Cleveland was in better condition and was the other one to be conserved. It was drawn by J. M. Tucker of Bristol and measures approximately 4 metres by 2 metres.

The schedules that accompanied these maps have survived and give a great deal of information about the owners and occupiers of each individual plot at these times.

This project has been an excellent example of cooperation between parishes. It has enabled these valuable documents to be preserved for the future and made available to all those interested in local history. So, very many thanks to all who contributed.