England has been continuously mapped from Medieval times to the present; politically, administratively and functionally as well as creatively and imaginatively. Maps have helped to define ideas of what England is and could be. They have developed and maintained its identity amongst other nations and explored its essential character and limits. Mapping England shows, through a series of compelling maps, both historic and contemporary, how England has scrutinised itself, been seen by others and how it has recorded its ever-changing circumstances.

The maps included show a country at times confident but also unsure of itself. Often drawn for purely practical purposes they frequently and unconsciously reveal the true state of the nation, and the hopes and fears of its inhabitants. England has been the crucible for many of the most significant developments in cartography and Mapping England tells the story of how its position in the world has evolved and, in so doing, entails new ways of seeing and expressing such findings in graphic form.