Cole & Roper town plans

The Town Plans from "The British Atlas" by Cole and Roper (London: Vernor, Hood & Sharpe, 1810) form one of the most engaging series of early 19th-century maps of English cities. Valued for their clarity, precision, and decorative style, these finely engraved plans depict Britain’s county and other principal towns during the early Industrial Revolution. Several record textile mills, foundries, docks, canals, factories and other hallmarks of rapid industrial growth, offering a remarkable visual record of cities in transition. Drawn by G. Cole and engraved by J. Roper, the plans combine technical accuracy with Georgian elegance. Together they capture the changing urban geography of early modern Britain—towns expanding beyond medieval cores into bustling centres of manufacture, trade, and innovation—making them both historically significant and aesthetically appealing to collectors and historians alike.