Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 9th April 2026

Time: 7:30pm

Venue: Newport Minster, St Thomas’ Square, NEWPORT, IW PO30 1BG

Description: Nowadays, we take for granted the ready availability of maps of all kinds. In mid-Tudor England, they were rare. All this was to change in 1579 when Christopher Saxton, a farmer from the West Riding of Yorkshire, became the first cartographer to make a published atlas of all the counties of England and Wales. For many, his atlas provided the first detailed image of England and Wales they had ever seen, showing the Elizabethan kingdom as a whole and in its constituent parts. In this lecture, Dr David Fletcher will trace the story of Saxton's life and legacy by exploring his extraordinary mapmaking project alongside the crucial nature of support and encouragement he received from Queen Elizabeth I and her court. Dr Fletcher is an independent researcher specialising in the history of cartography of England and Wales in the early modern and modern eras. A brief book signing will follow the lecture.

Price: Associate membership: £10 per year. Talks free to national HA members and students, visitors £3

Tel: 07988171708

Email: jacobscme@gmail.com

Website: https://www.facebook.com/HistoricalAssociationIW

Organiser: All enquiries to Caroline Jacobs

Lecturer: Dr David Fletcher an independent researcher specialising in the history of cartography of England and Wales in the early modern and modern eras.

Comments: Finishing at approximately 9.00pm. Doors open at 7.00pm

Region: South-East England

Branch: Isle of Wight