Bridgwater and Taunton, 1737 and 1880

The entire below was sent from Taunton to New Inn, London in 1737.  This is not a 'Coffee House' cover - New Inn, Wynch Street was one of the Inns of Chancery, founded in 1485 from what had previously been a common tavern.

 

The envelope below was sent from Bridgwater to Taunton in March 1880, and then redirected to Bath with an additional 1d stamp to pay for the redirection.  It received 4-bar vertical oval duplex cancels from both Bridgwater (original posting, #123) and Taunton (redirection, #776).

 

200th Anniversary of the first Mail Coach London to Bristol, 1784-1984

1984 was the 200th aniversary of the first mail coach run from London to Bristol in 1784.  London Postal Region issued some postcards to commemorate this, along with the special handstamp.

 There were four postcards, illustrated with pictures of coaching inns.

 

Maps of Bath from 1676, 1764, 1818, 1835 and 1911

This first "Map of Bathe" is from "A discourse of Bathe, and the Hot Waters There" by Thomas Guidott in 1676, with the engraving by F.H. Van Houe.

The next map of Bath that I have was published by Andrew Dury in c.1764 entitled "Plan of the City and Suburbs of Bath".  Note that the orientation is 90 degrees from the previous map.

I also have a small book entitled "The Historical and Local New Bath Guide" published by J. Barratt and Son in 1818, which includes a map (apologies for the quality of the image as it is rather tricky to scan.).

 

This next map is from 1835 by J & C Walker.

 

 

Lastly here is a map from 1911 from a Railway Guide.

 

Maps of Somerset 1761 to 1850

This is a series of maps of Somersetshire, starting with one by Thomas Kitchin in 1761 for the Duke of York.

Next one by John Cary in 1793 ...

... Ellis in 1819 with canals visible, ...

 ... Hall in 1831 with the start of the railway, ...

.... Moule in 1848 with the railway to Exeter very clearly shown, ....

and Archer in c.1850 showing a proliferation of railway lines, as well as the County Divisons.