Christopher Saxton

Born in West Yorkshire around 1542 and educated at the University of Cambridge. After which Saxton came to London and joined the household of Thomas Seckford who was Queen Elizabeth's Master of the Court of Requests and Surveyor of the Court of Wards and Liveries.

Realising that Saxton had considerable talent, Seckford encouraged him to survey the counties of England and Wales, paying his expenses and obtaining the authority of Queen Elizabeth. With such distinguished backing he could ascend any tower or hill he needed for surveying purposes.

At length Saxton managed to compile a set of maps. The finest engravers of the day, mostly from the Low Countries, were engaged to produce the maps. These Saxton Maps, the first ever issued of the counties, were the magnificent result of a tremendous pioneer undertaking; and the final engraving upon copper, executed between 1574 and 1579, fully justified the effort.

The maps have a restrained exuberance in their decoration, the lettering of the place names is of great beauty, and they were often coloured, some being heightened with gold. Each map bears the Royal arms of Elizabeth as well as the arms of Seckford. The watermarks vary and are unreliable as a guide to state and issue, but the lozenge of small circles, known as the grapes watermark, and crossed arrows predominate.

Reprints appeared in 1645 and in an altered form in 1689 and 1693, so that they are practically unrecognisable; by the time further issues appeared in 1720 and 1749 they represent but a poor shadow of their original glory. Saxton died some time after 1606 possibly about 1610.