Topographical Dictionary for Ireland, England and Scotland 1831, 1842
The database is an alphabetical dictionary of the topography of Ireland, England and Scotland and provides historical and statistical descriptions of several of the counties, cities, boroughs, corporate markets, post towns, parishes, and villages. A useful resource as these enable one to locate and learn about the places in which our ancestors lived.
Topography in a broader sense is concerned with local detail in general, including not only relief but also vegetative and human made features and even local history and culture.
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The Topographical Dictionary can be searched by Place name or browsed
To search the Topographical Dictionary enter a Place Name in the search field, also consider different spellings of place names as they may have changed for instance Maiden-Well is now Maidenwell. Use a Hyphen or the Wildcard to locate a place. The search Wildcard is %.
Or browse the Topographical Dictionary by selecting a letter on the alphabet menu bar.
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A typical Topographical entry in 1842 reads;
WIMBLEDON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of KINGSTON, W. Division of the hundred of BRIXTON, E. Division of the county of SURREY, 7 miles (S.W.) from London; containing 2631 inhabitants. The name of this place, anciently written Wymbandune, Wymbaldon, and Wymbledon, is supposed to have been derived from one of its early proprietors. The principal feature in the parish is Wimbledon park, which comprises 922 acres, and contains a sheet of water covering a space of about forty acres; it is one of the finest in the county, and comprises some very fine timber, especially evergreen oaks and cedars, one of the latter of which measures, at two feet from the ground, nineteen feet in circumference. In the pleasure-grounds is a curious sarcophagus, besides several blocks of marble taken from the French during the war, and which were presented to the late Earl Spencer, then first lord of the Admiralty, and are said to be brought from Pompeii for Buonaparte.
The common is surrounded by seats of the nobility and gentry, and exhibits at the south-west angle a circular encampment with a single ditch, including a surface of seven acres ; the trench is very deep and perfect. It is said to mark the site of a battle, fought in 568, between Ceawlin, king of the West Saxons, and Ethelbert, King of Kent, in which the latter was defeated and his two generals, Oslac and Cnebban, slain. At the north-east angle is the village........
The entry goes on to describe the village and mentions the railway, the copper mills and the local church. The school, almshouses and various finds and famous inhabitants are also mentioned.
Find a description of your ancestors town in the Topographical database.
