Whilst we are making our way on the pilgrimage around medieval Marian shrines, not to mention following a very idiosyncratic route, we might feel it useful to have a road map. If we do then we might feel like eschewing Sat-Nav, online maps, Google Earth or even a standard motoring artlas. The answer is, of course, the Gough Map.
The Gough Map in the Bodleian is the most detailed map of the British Isles, and in particular of England and Wales, to survive from the later medieval period. It was, fortuitously, rescued by the antiquarian Richard Gough - hence its name - in the eighteenth century. The argument I have heard is that it was mounted on a board which was hinged to the wall of the Star Chamber so it could be consulted during Council meetings.
Medievalists.net has an article summering a recent research paper, which it links to, about the red lines indicating roads on the Gough Map. It has sought to identify which were Roman roads that were then, and probably still are, in use, and those which were created in the medieval centuries, though which might be much older. A third category are those which cannot be identified before the mid-sixteenth century but which were quite probably in existence long beforehand.
This is interesting, and rather confirms what a knowledge of local history for any particular place or locality would indicate. The road building of the later eighteenth and earlier nineteenth centuries had a huge impact, often completely reordering our perceptions about towns and villages, and the links between the. That, of course, is before the landscape was ripped apart by motorways….
Rivers were an important feature to the Gough cartographer, and it is important to remember that, particularly in eastern, lowland England rivers were important both for carrying heavy goods, including stone for building, but also people. Royalty, nobility and doubtless others used the rivers for speedy travel and, probably,
comfort.
One thing that slightly surprised me was the attribution of the Gough Map to the fifteenth century or more precisely 1390-1410. I had been brought up to date it to the period 1360-75. Wikipedia outlines the discussion, with relevant links, at Gough Map
The article, and links to the academic paper and more about the Gough Map, can all be accessed at Medieval England’s Road Network Mapped Using the Gough Map