Road strip maps

Strip maps, first popularised by John Ogilby in his Britannia (1675), became an essential tool for travellers during the coaching era. Ogilby’s innovative format showed roads as linear strips, marked with mileages, turnings, and notable landmarks — ideal for long-distance journeys by stagecoach. Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, publishers such as Bowen, Kitchin, and Cary produced pocket-sized strip maps tailored for coach passengers, often covering turnpike routes between major towns. These maps helped travellers anticipate stops, inns, and changes in direction at a time when signposting was inconsistent. As coaching became more organised and widespread, strip maps were increasingly included in road books and itineraries, guiding both passengers and drivers. Though eventually supplanted by railways, these maps were a crucial part of Britain’s coaching infrastructure and remain a distinctive feature of Georgian and Regency cartography.