contour.PRINTS

The collection · From the archive

Historic maps

Your own street as the Ordnance Survey drew it more than a century ago — London and twelve other cities, at five or ten feet to the mile — and, being drawn, the great plans: London as John Rocque surveyed it in 1746, Paris in Turgot's bird's-eye of 1739, Rome in Nolli's plan of 1748 and Manhattan in the Commissioners' grid of 1811.

Make my Historic Print
See the Historic Print
Historic maps

Next in this family

Being drawn now, and on sale here as each one is ready.

  1. 01John Rocque's London, 1746
  2. 02Turgot's Paris, 1739
  3. 03Nolli's Rome, 1748
  4. 04The Commissioners' Plan of Manhattan, 1811

Good to know

Are these reproductions or redrawings?

Scans of the original sheets from public collections — for the Ordnance Survey town plans, the National Library of Scotland's. Nothing is redrawn: every line is where the surveyor put it, printed as drawn or in two colours from your palette, and the credit the library asks for is printed on every sheet.

Can I choose the part of the map?

For the town plans, yes: type a postcode and the Historic Print finds your street on the sheet, then you frame the piece you want. It is offered only at the sizes the survey's own detail prints sharply at.

Which cities are covered?

London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Salford, Cardiff, Hull, Liverpool, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds. A postcode elsewhere is told so rather than shown the wrong street.

How is it printed and framed?

Like every print here: giclée printed on 200 gsm enhanced matte fine-art paper with archival pigment inks, then framed by hand in solid wood — a classic frame in eight colours or a box frame, with or without a mount — or sent rolled for a frame you already have. Made to order and posted tracked; the print guide has the sizes.

How it works

From the Studio to your wall in three steps.

The Heatmap print: a year of London runs layered into one map of familiar roads
Step 01

Choose your subject

Connect Strava in one tap for a race, a ride or a whole year. Or search for a place, type a postcode for your street on the old Ordnance Survey, or add a photograph — none of those needs an account.

The Contours print: a year of runs drawn as density contours, the ground darkest where the miles repeat
Step 02

Choose your style

Start from a finished design and make it yours: the words, the colours, the size. Twenty-three styles for your own miles, four treatments for a place, six layouts for a photograph, and the old survey as drawn or in your colours.

The Distance rings print: one ring for every activity of the year, the longer arcs the longer days
Step 03

We print and frame it

Pick a frame, check out, and it is printed to order on fine-art paper, framed by hand and posted to you, tracked.

  • Made to orderPrinted for you, never from stock
  • Fine-art paperArchival inks, framed by hand
  • Tracked deliveryUK delivery £7.85, tracked · worldwide, priced at checkout
  • Arrives damaged?We replace it, no quibble