The map holds several claims as to its importance, not least that it is far and away the most accurate map of the county of Sussex and not just to the date of its publication but also for many years after. It is also the first large-scale map of the county with a scale of 1 inch to 1 mile. Finally, it is, according to David Kingsley[1] the first county map of Sussex to use a North South orientation, with a suitable compass rose included. Budgen further includes a one inch to the mile scale.
Likewise, the map was one of the first to include parallels and meridians which provide a reference grid and allow for easy location of the many country seats of the county Gentry who's houses and lands (seats) are fastidiously engraved along the bottom of the map complete with an intreguing notation; 'By which Twill be easy to find if properties of any subscribers Seat in the county'. Now, does this beg the question that Budgen took subscriptions to include the Gentry in the making of this map?
It has been suggested that the map was dedicated to The Rt Hon Spencer Compton as (amongst other titles) Knight of the Shire for the County of Sussex, although in the absence of a title dedication it is difficult to track such a claim.
The coastline is remarkably accurate compared to other maps of the time and the inclusion of hydrography around Selsey Bill is an interesting feature giving, as it does, notice to the relationship that Sussex has always held with the sea.
According to Kingsley the information was taken from a slightly earlier 1721 map of Sussex which, in the true tradition of map and chart making would suggest that Budgen was clearly quite happy to draw on other material in order to enhance the impact of his own work. What is important to note about this work is the detail and attention to detail Budgen has shown: He details, in the title cartouche, symbols used which depict: Market towns, Manor or Farm Houses, Castles, Ruins of Abbeys, Furnaces, Forges, Watermills, Smiths Forges, Camps, Heaths, Mineral Waters, Marshland, Stone Quarries, Woodland, Commons, Rocks, Sands, Rivers and Parts of the county which 'abound' most with Oak Timber, Confines of he County, Rapes, Hundreds and other regions.
The reference to Oak Timber is of course hugely significant as to the reality of the demands of shipbuilding and construction. The inclusion of Tridents, seashells and rather scary fish-like serpents around the title cartouche is, again, a reference to the sea-faring history of this beautiful county.
The map was also released by Budgen in 1723 in 24 loose sheets.
[1] David Kingsley, Printed Maps of Sussex 1575-1900. Published by Sussex Record Society. 1982.
