Category Archives: Industry

Nordic minecraft

It’s rare for a general purpose map to give attention to what is under the ground as well as to what is on the surface. This map shows the county of Akershus in Norway, centred around Christiania (now Oslo), in the eighteenth century. The map was drawn by Johann Baptist Homann, a largely self taught cartographer and engraver, in 1729. The area is described by a Latinized version of its name, Aggerhusiensis. About a quarter of the map is taken up by an illustration of a mine, with the surface cut away to show the internal workings.


The map appears here in a general atlas, titled Atlas geographicus maior, published in Nuremberg by the heirs of Homann in 1798. The company was founded by Homann in 1702; he built a successful map publishing business, both creating his own maps and publishing those of others. He was succeeded by his son Johann Christoph Homann, who died young, and the company passed to friends, and connections by marriage, who continued the company as Homännische Erben (Homann Heirs). It lasted into the mid-nineteenth century and issued over 900 maps, a remarkably long run. The atlas, as its title suggests, is very large, containing 152 maps, and covering most of the world apart from Germany. A second volume of 124 maps concentrates on Germany alone. There is extensive geographical text in German, but the maps are mainly in Latin.

Activities in and around the mine are shown in some detail, providing an interesting view of early mining processes. There are ladders to move between levels and a pulley system, and a furnace in the background, perhaps for the iron working associated with the area. Near the top, a stream has been diverted to turn a water wheel.

There is nothing specifically Christmassy about this map, but somehow it felt appropriate to this time of year. Perhaps it’s the combination of the clearing of paths through the snow, the little fir trees, the pale blue wash colour (a shade normally used for water, and an unusual choice for land) and the many figures working away underground like Santa’s elves.

[Edited 16/12/25 to remove reference to coal mining, as it is not clear that this is what is being mined.]

Tractus Norwegiae Danicus. Magnam diecoseos Aggerhusiensis / partem sistems editus a Johanni Baptistae Homanni … Noribergae Anno 1729. In Atlas geographicus maior. Norimbergae: Homannianis heredibus, [1798]. Map Res. 40


Digging deep: charting the rise and fall of British coal

Midnight on 1st October 2024 saw the UK’s last remaining coal-fired power station close for the final time, marking the end of a 142-year history of coal-based energy production in Britain. The development of coal, industry, and infrastructure have been closely linked throughout this period, with many maps in our collection highlighting these connections.

Small-scale, localised coal mining is likely to have taken place in Britain for several centuries, but it was not until the 18th century that more substantial shafts began to appear on the landscape. This detailed site plan of the coal works at Kinnaird, Scotland is dated 1776, and shows the development of excavations over the preceding 18 months.

A plan of Kinnaird main coal workings at Jan 4th 1775 shewing also the space wrought from that period to 1st Aug. 1776 (1776), Gough Maps Scotland 86

As well as a planimetric map of the site, a cross section is also included, clearly showing the various layers of ‘the different coal’ and the depths and locations of various shafts.

By the mid 19th century, coal production had dramatically increased, providing a crucial catalyst for the industrial revolution. Entire regions became peppered with new collieries, as shown by this ultra large-format 1850 map of the ‘Great Northern Coalfield’, spanning large parts of Northumberland and County Durham.

Map of the great northern coalfield in the counties of Northumberland & Durham, including the whole of the coal mining districts of the Tyne, Wear and Tees and those of Hartlepool, Seaham, Hartley, Blyth and Warkworth, From actual survey by J.T.W. Bell (1850), (E) C17:2 (2)

In some parts, such as this area south west of Bishop Auckland, the concentration of collieries is remarkably dense, appearing very prominently with capitalised labels.

With the increase in coal mining came the increasing need for transport infrastructure to match. The emergence of railways connecting collieries with major cities and ports is clear on the ‘Great Northern’ map, but this 1845 map published by Longman & Co. shows that this development was widespread, and in parallel with the construction of canals. Here, coalfields are indicated using a grey tint, with the Tyne, South Wales, and Firth of Forth coalfields already very substantial by this time.

Map exhibiting the navigable rivers, the completed & proposed canals & railroads of Great Britain & Ireland, with the coal fields, lighthouses etc (1845), (E) C15 (150)

It was not until the 1910s that coal production reached its peak, although coal still accounted for around 90% of UK electricity production until the 1960s, when oil and nuclear began to see significant expansions. The ‘Coal and Iron’ map produced by Ordnance Survey at the end of the Second World War shows the extent of coal mining in Lancashire, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands in particular, immediately prior to nationalisation in 1947.

Great Britain. Coal and Iron. Compiled… from… maps… and from information… referring to the year 1940, sheet 2 (1945), C16 (251) [13]

The closure of the final coal-fired power station is a significant landmark as the UK, alongside many other countries, pursues Net Zero and low-carbon policies. In no small part, this shift has been facilitated by the exponential growth of renewable energy production, including wind, wave, solar, and hydroelectric power.

The 16th edition of the ‘Wind farms’ map, produced by La Tene Maps and RenewableUK in 2020, shows that it is wind farms which now characterise many of our landscapes and seascapes, as the once dominant coal industry continues to fade from view.

Britain – wind farms (2020), C16 (937)