Queens' College : Atlas of the estates in England and Wales belonging to the President and Fellows of Queens' College

Queens' College

<p style='text-align: justify;'>In 1822 Queens’ College commissioned Cambridge surveyor Alexander Watford Jr to make an atlas of plans of the College’s estates. The atlas was completed in 1825. Two copies were produced, one on paper for the Bursar (MS 355b) and a coloured copy on parchment for the President (this volume).</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Both copies measure an enormous 68 x 45 cm and the coloured copy has a <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(6);return false;'>frontispiece</a> decorated with gold leaf, an elaborate <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(7);return false;'>title page</a> and an <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(9);return false;'>index of places</a> written within a scroll-shaped frame.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Some attempt was made to keep the atlas up-to-date with changes made to the estates after it was finished, but not always successfully or completely, and it is not known when the College stopped trying to keep it up to date. In one case, Oakington, there are two versions: the original (<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(122);return false;'>map 22</a>) before the Enclosure Award of 1834, and a second later plan (<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(117);return false;'>map 22[a]</a>) made after the Enclosure Award by Watford's assistant and nephew, James Richardson. Some plans, for example Pampisford (<a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(102);return false;'>map 19</a>), indicate the sale of the land with the word 'Sold' written above or below the title.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>None of the estates depicted in the atlas (except the college site itself) now belong to the College. </p>