Penbrochiæ comitatus olim Demetiæ Regionis & Penbrochiae comitatus

Reference: MAP 01000 & MAP 01001

George Owen (c.1552-1613), a historian, antiquary, and genealogist who lived at Henllys in Pembrokeshire, created his map of the county in 1602. It is of great historical and cultural significance, and is notable for several innovative features - it shows the roads and has an alphanumeric grid with an index of place names, each with a grid coordinate to locate it on the map. Such was the quality of this map that it was used as a basis for the Pembrokeshire map printed in Camden’s Britannia (1607), in preference to the equivalent Saxton map, one of the few maps to achieve this feat.

The Library holds 2 versions of this manuscript map – the 2nd version appears to be a later one and has been dated (with uncertainty) to 1603. There are slight differences between the two maps, but both are thought to be by Owen.

• Penbrochiæ comitatus olim Demetiæ Regionis Reference: MAP 01000
• Penbrochiae comitatus Reference: MAP 01001

Related links

• George Owen’s map of Pembrokeshire, NLW Blog
• Owen, George (c.1552-1613), Dictionary of Welsh Biography
• Owen, George (1552–1613), ODNB, available within NLW