While I can’t be totally sure how authentic it is as I’ve seen nothing about it’s providence, I must say I find the first map on this list utterly fascinating. It claims to be an anglo-saxon map of the London area. According to this page, it was ‘put together’ from several sources. It shows the area of what is now London as it may have looked like from 500 to 1066ad, and I could look at it for hours. On my travels around London, it strikes me that the city is like a palimpsest: now and then I think I can glimpse what was here before the urban sprawl. There must have been a time before the metropolis where places like Charlton and Woolwich were separate villages. This map approximates what that area may well have looked like, with forests, marshes and streams between; yet as ever the mighty thames flows through the centre.

I also learn from this map that ‘Charlton’ was originally spelled ‘Cerletone’. I think might use that spelling from now on.