History in Maps

Introduction - (1 of 9)

1662 - Joan Blaeu - Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

People have been making maps since the earliest cave paintings. They were created to help with travel, define boundaries, and support trade. The map on this page was produced in 1662 by Joan Blaeu, a Dutch cartographer, on behalf of the Dutch East India Company.

Like many early maps, this one shows little local detail. However, it still tells us that Crofton existed, was significant enough to be marked, and had a church.

Over time, maps became increasingly detailed. By the mid-18th century, the British Army recognised the need for accurate mapping after experiencing difficulties locating dissenters during the Jacobite Uprising of 1745. This led to the first detailed maps of Scotland, created by military surveyors who would eventually form what we now know as the Ordnance Survey (OS) - an organisation that still produces high-quality maps today. These days, the maps are more likely to be used for planning than military suppression!

The following pages show a series of detailed OS maps produced over almost 200 years. They give us an insight as to how Crofton developed as a village.

Note that copyright restrictions mean that we can only show old maps up to 1975.