Surveys of Essex

Essex as a county has been very frequently surveyed, far more so than many counties; just on county north of us we get Cambridgeshire, and that was surveyed (& published) just the once before its first Ordnance Survey map.

When a map is created the surveyor generally has an existing, older map on which they can base their work and their new map. This was true of all the people who surveyed Essex in its entirety - bar the very first one (Christopher Saxton) who must have stated with a near enough blank sheet of paper (the biggest map of Essex befoe Saxton would have been as part of a map of England, leaving Essex a couple of inches tall).

The surveyors of Essex were:

Surveyor(s)	Date	Published Scale	Notes
Christopher Saxton	1576	1:192,000, or 1 inch = 3 miles	The first national survey, taking just seven years for the whole of England & Wales. No roads.
John Norden	1594	1:230,000, or 1 inch = 3.6 miles	Not published in his day (his Gazetteer of Essex was), and not until 1840. A few, very schematic roads.
John Ogilby & William Morgan	1678	1:200,000, or 1 inch = 3.1 miles	The first one with reliable roads
John Oliver	1696	1:100,000, or 1 inch = 1.6 miles	Surprisingly similar to the earlier Ogilby & Morgan.
Warburton	1724	1:75,000, or 1 inch = 1.2 miles	The map that the Bowens (Emmanuel & Thomas) and Thomas Kitchin used for their maps later in the century.
John Chapman & Peter Andre	1777	1:31,680, or 1 inch = 0.5 miles	The best and most detailed map to date, and remaining so for a hundred years.
Ordnance Survey	1805	1:63,360, or 1 inch = 1 mile	The second national survey - taking 64 years to complete England & Wales.
Charles & John Greenwood	1825	1:63,360, or 1 inch = 1 mile	The last of the private surveyors.

All the other maps of Essex (there are about 100 from Saxton to the OS) were copies of one of these surveyed maps (or copies of a copy of ...). Starting with a truly blank page was a remarkable achievement for Saxton, and yet he did Essex in just seven weeks or so.

There were thus only ever two national surveys - the Saxton and the OS (which didn't complete until 1869); private surveyors had tried to do national surveys but were beaten by the cost (sometimes into bankruptcy - as was the eventual fate of the Greenwood brothers).

Other maps did sometimes add extra details, such as new railways as they opened (or were planned), or added extra information on places (eg particularly the Bowens).