OS One-Inch Old Series / First Edition Map Viewer (Sheet 8)

Ordnance Survey One-Inch First Edition Old Map of Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire: Old Series map of OS Old Series Map Sheet 8 (Surrey / North Downs / western Weald inferred).

Please note that the modern reference map on the split screen is intended as a guide only.

Old Series Map Index

 

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Landscape and Archaeological Assessment

Landscape Classification

This sheet represents a chalk escarpment and wooded upland landscape, characterised by North Downs ridgeway, river gaps and Wealden hills.

Archaeological Landscape

The primary archaeological theme is North Downs ridgeway and river-gap archaeology. prehistoric hilltop visibility, Roman/medieval routeways and river crossing towns

High Visibility Locations

Box Hill, Reigate Hill, Leith Hill, Hog's Back

Terrain Archaeology

The terrain is interpreted using hachures. Hachures are especially useful for spotting scarp edges, river gaps, spurs and high-visibility nodes.

Main Geographic Information

Index grid confirms Sheet VIII south of Sheet I, west of Sheet VI and north of Sheet IX. Direct image evidence shows N° VIII in the top-right margin and the large SURREY county label across the central sheet. Terrain shading strongly matches the North Downs and Surrey/Sussex borderlands; likely includes Guildford-Dorking-Reigate corridor and western Wealden settlements. Bounds remain approximate because graticule labels are faint.

Main Landscape Features

Sheet 8 shows a mixed area of chalk escarpment and wooded upland North Downs ridgeway, river gaps and Wealden hills . The map is useful for studying early 19th Century historic settlement patterns, Roman road alignments, early archaeological site indentification, how roads, old tracks, lanes and paths, villages, waterways and field systems related to the wider nineteenth-century landscape.

Main Geographic Features

Archaeological Predictions

Archaeological Hotspots

North Downs Ridgeway is interpreted as a prehistoric/Roman ridge route and visibility landscape landscape. Dorking-Mole Gap is interpreted as a river gap and crossing route node landscape. Guildford-Wey Gap is interpreted as a river crossing and routeway node landscape. Box Hill / Reigate Hill Visibility Belt is interpreted as a scarp-edge high point zone landscape.

Historic Routes, Crossings and Connections

North Downs Scarp Corridor is interpreted as a long-distance ridgeway / Roman road candidate corridor. Historic crossing points where roads, trackways or routeways converge on significant water features are widely recognised as archaeological hotspots. Crossing points often acted as gateways within the historic landscape. Because movement was channelled through these locations, archaeological evidence may occur both at the crossing itself and along the routes leading towards it, forming broader zones of archaeological potential rather than isolated sites.Wey-Mole-Reigate Crossing Chain is interpreted as a river-gap route corridor. Historic crossing points where roads, trackways or routeways converge on significant water features are widely recognised as archaeological hotspots. Crossing points often acted as gateways within the historic landscape. Because movement was channelled through these locations, archaeological evidence may occur both at the crossing itself and along the routes leading towards it, forming broader zones of archaeological potential rather than isolated sites.

Historic Gateways and Crossing Places

Guildford Wey Crossing is a major river crossing and gap route. Dorking/Mickleham Mole Gap is a river-gap crossing. Reigate Hill Foot Crossing Zone is a scarp-foot route/water crossing.

Main Places