French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802)
Maps and prints of naval engagements collected by George III during the decade of war
Map of encampment at Swinley, 1799 (North Ascot, Berkshire, UK) 51°25'29"N 00°41'27"W
c.1799Pencil, pen, ink and watercolour on paper | Scale: 1:12,672 approx. | RCIN 735077.a
The area covered by the camp is approximately the area now known as North Ascot, just west of Ascot race course. This plan will have been made from an original reconnaissance type survey which was taught at the Royal Military College by the French emigré officer, General François Jarry. Birch went on, as a member of the newly formed Staff Corps, to perform surveying and reconnoitering during the Peninsular War for which he was commended by Sir Robert Wilson (Le Marchant 1841, p.86). Birch was a close friend of the founder of the Royal Military College, Colonel Gaspard le Marchant.
This map shows one of the techniques, brought over from France and taught by Jarry, which was used extensively by the Staff Corps for representing the relative height of hills by numbers. Known as 'relative command', because it showed the commanding height of one hill relative to another, it was adopted by the Ordnance Survey from 1803 after it was introduced by one of the OS Surveying Draughtsmen, Robert Dawson, who also taught survey and plan drawing at High Wycombe.
Additional text: [bottom left, in rectangular panel on separate piece of paper pasted to the bottom left edge of the map:] Explanation of the Signs on the Plan.
Condition: one fold line; small tear to top centre edge; small tear to bottom centre edge; surface dirt, top right. Verso: surface dirt along right edge, consistent with the map having been rolled and tied.
Thomas Birch (1771-1847) (draughtsman)
Subject(s)
Army-GBWatermark: None
Annotations: 1089
Condition: one fold line; small tear to top centre edge; small tear to bottom centre edge; surface dirt, top right. Verso: surface dirt along right edge, consistent with the map having been rolled and tied
Scale: 1:12,672 approx. Scale bar: One Mile [127 mm =]
54.3 x 69.9 cm (neatline)
55.5 x 70.3 cm (image)
11.2 x 20.3 cm (flap pasted to paper)
58.6 x 74.1 cm (sheet)
Manuscript title:
PLAN / of the COUNTRY in front / of SWINLEY CAMP / July 1799. [bottom left, in rectangular panel]
Additional text:
[bottom left, in rectangular panel on separate piece of paper pasted to the bottom left edge of the map:] Explanation of the Signs on the Plan.
Annotations:
George III heading: Encampment at Swinley, July 1799.
Other annotations: (Recto) none. (Verso) [along right edge, black pencil:] Swinley Camp.
George III catalogue entry:
Encampent A drawn Plan of the Country in front of Swinley Camp, July 1799: by Major T. Birch [The same entry appears under the heading Swinley.]
Subject(s)
North Ascot, Berkshire, UK (51°25'29"N 00°41'27"W)
Bibliographic reference(s)
D. Le Marchant, Memoirs of the late Major General Le Marchant, Staplehurst, 1841, reprinted 1997, p.86
Page revisions
25 May 2024
Current version
