Maps and plans of Hitchin Priory

 

Detail of Chauncy plan showing the Priory buildings

 

A plan of Hitchin in 1700 showing Hitchin Priory middle left. This appears in Chauncy's History of Hertfordshire.

 

Section of the Dury and Andrews map of Hertfordshire 1766. This clearly shows the Radcliffe estate.

 

Detail of D/ER/P3 showing the position of the Priory.

 

Detail from the first edition Ordnance Survey map of Hitchin.

 

An early view of the Priory from the Gerish collection. G/ER/47

 

A view of the priory from the lake, showing the new wing. G/ER/47

 

A view of the Priory park after landscaping. G/ER/47

 

A 20th century photograph. G/ER/47

 

Part of an internal plan of the Priory showing new rooms and building works. D/ER/P5

 

Part of a 1908 survey of the Priory buildings.

Published maps of Hitchin from as early as 1700 show the importance of the priory and the Radcliffe family. Although it is on the edge of the town, it is always clearly marked and sometimes thee Radcliffe name is also noted.

There are only a few pictures of the priory in the collection, but they give an overview of the extent to which John Radcliffe’s new buildings enlarged the old Priory and substantially changed the exterior.

Some internal plans also survive which give an idea of how the rooms were arranged.