An Accurate Map of the County Palatine of Durham is Thomas Kitchin’s lucid portrait of a singular English jurisdiction, refined in 1763 from his earlier 1751 issue. Its dedication to Joseph Butler, Lord Bishop of Durham, is far more than a courtesy; it signals the Bishop’s exceptional temporal authority in a county where ecclesiastical and civil power famously converged. Kitchin responds to that complexity with rare composure, dividing the palatinate into wards that translate legal geography into an intelligible, visual order. The county’s boundaries, settlements, and communications are arrayed with a precision that made Kitchin’s name. This is a mid-Georgian document of governance as much as geography: a map that explains how an ancient autonomy worked on the ground, parish by parish and road by measured road.

Kitchin’s artistry is declared in the decorative cartouche, where craftsmen at work embody the industrious spirit of the age and mirror the mapmaker’s own meticulous practice. Across the sheet, hand-coloring articulates the wards with refined clarity, while engraving of rivers, coast, and inland relief supplies texture without confusion. A carefully composed key in the lower-right corner deciphers a sophisticated symbology—market towns, villages, rectorial and vicarage churches, parks, and the seats of the nobility and gentry—ensuring the reader can navigate social as well as physical landscapes. Measured mileages accompany principal routes, marrying elegance to empirical utility and making movement legible at a glance.

The county’s towns are situated with a storyteller’s sense of connection. Durham, the episcopal heart and historic stronghold, anchors the interior; Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees knit the south by busy roads and river trade; Sunderland and Hartlepool hold the coast, their harbors opening the county to the North Sea. The rivers Wear and Tees wind through this composition, binding upland to shore and market to port. Out of frame to the north lies Newcastle upon Tyne—acknowledged by context if not by boundary—signaling the palatinate’s dialogue with neighboring power. Parks and landscaped estates punctuate the countryside, their demesnes named and placed, while annotations illuminate lesser-known communities, keeping hamlet and manor as visible as town and city.

This is also a chronicle of movement on the eve of transformative change. By inscribing roads with true measured distances, Kitchin captures the practical world of carriers, clergy, magistrates, and gentry traversing the county in the coaching age, before rails redrew the map of speed. The wards provide the bureaucratic scaffolding for that world; the churches, distinguished as rectorial or vicarage, trace the ecclesiastical network that underwrote local life and authority. Symbols for parks and noble seats hint at patronage and influence, while the density of settlements reveals an economy knitting coal, agriculture, and coastal trade. Every emblem in the key is an instrument for reading how power, piety, and commerce inhabited the same terrain.

Thomas Kitchin’s reputation as a master engraver rests on this union of beauty and exactitude. He was a tireless compiler and clear-sighted designer, distilling complex information into pages that reward both quick reference and close study. Here, his disciplined line, explanatory key, and dignified dedication turn a county map into a learned object—useful to the traveler and magistrate in its day, richly evocative to the connoisseur now. The hand-applied color enlivens the wards without overwhelming the typography; the cartouche’s working figures salute the skilled hands that shaped the era. Collectors prize such maps for their intellectual poise: a whole polity rendered legible, its roads and parishes still guiding the eye through mid-Georgian England.

Cities and towns on this map

• Durham: Population ~50,000.
• Darlington: Population ~105,000.
• Sunderland: Population ~175,000.
• Hartlepool: Population ~95,000.
• Stockton-on-Tees: Population ~84,000.
• Newcastle upon Tyne: Population ~150,000 (just outside the map boundaries, but relevant due to historical context).

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Division of the County Palatine into wards.
• Roads marked with true measured distances between towns.
• Indications of rectorial and vicarage locations.
• Parks and seats of the nobility and gentry highlighted.
• Annotations explaining various communities depicted on the map.
• Decorative engravings showing craftsmen, enhancing the map's artistry.
• A detailed key in the lower-right corner with symbols explaining map features.

Historical and design context

• Map Title: An Accurate Map of the County Palatine of Durham.
• Mapmaker: Created by Thomas Kitchin in 1763, known for his detailed and skilled engraving techniques.
• Original Publication: The map was first published in 1751 and later improved upon.
• Dedication: The map bears a dedication to Joseph Butler, the Lord Bishop of Durham, showcasing the connection between the Church and the community.
• Hand-coloring: The map is hand-colored, adding a visual distinction to the different regions and wards within the County of Durham.
• Historical Context: The County Palatine of Durham was significant during this period, with its own legal rights and jurisdiction, influenced by the Bishop of Durham's authority.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 100in (250cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.