Map showing part of the liberties of Belper, Duffield and Makeney

The plan was first created in 1805 based on the Enclosure Map for Duffield, Belper, Hazlewood and Makeney (dated 1787). Updates, amendments and annotations were made to the map up to c1818 to show the intermediate lines of the Strutt Estate. The description on the map includes the following statement: 'And at the time of the new Survey in 1820, it was ordered by the Proprietors to be mounted and preserved, as well, on account of its magnitude and nature, as from being the production of their Clerk James Hicking: whom, for his long and honest services they much esteem'.

This is the earliest large scale map of the Strutt Estate at Belper and Milford. Like other Strutt estate maps, this one was produced in sections that did not align when they were pulled together. A note written to acknowledge the discrepancy reads: “These Errors cannot be cured, without spoiling the Plan.” It also includes a note about an error in the map resulting from the inaccessibility of the river banks at the time the ground survey was undertaken: “This part of the River was drawn by guess, before the Land on either side was bought or measured, and is all this wrong.” The correct alignment of the River is then added.

At the time the map was produced, there was a chain ferry across just south of the weir at Milford. The route is represented on the map by a small boat and chain. In 1793 the chain ferry was replaced by a stone bridge, in the same position as the old wooden bridge that can be seen further up stream.

Surveyor: James Hicking
Scale: 1 inch to 2 chains (enlarged from the original scale of 1 inch to 8 chains)