Old historical maps are great for either displaying in your home or for your genealogy research. This Cassini Maps Review will show you what this site has to offer and how it can help you.
In this review, I will explore what products are available from old UK and Ireland maps that you can access from this site.
Cassini Historical Maps Rating and Details | |
|---|---|
| Rating |  (4/5) |
| Maps | 500+ Maps (spanning 200 years) 15,000+ Parish Maps (1880-1910) |
| Products | Folded Maps, Framed Maps, Classic Frame, Canvases, Downloads, Town Plans, Mapmaker Plus, Mugs |
| Help & Support | FAQs, Contact, Newsletter, Blog, Facebook, and Twitter |
| Bottom Line | Great For UK and Irish Research! |
| CHECK IT OUT ==> | www.CassiniMaps.co.uk |
Cassini has a multitude of products that you can check out in reputable stores, and online as well.
If searching on the Internet is more your choice then this review is for you.
Discussed in this post:
- About Cassini Historical Maps!
- 8 Different Products
- Old Parish Maps
- Help & Support
- Pros & Cons
- Do I Recommend Cassini Historical Maps?
Further Information:
For more information on why old historical maps can help your genealogy research please check out Five Ways to Use Online Historical Maps for Genealogy. This helpful guide is provided by Family Tree Magazine.
Check out the following short video presented by genealogy experts Pamela and Rick Sayre who share their tips for using maps. They explain how you can use maps to discover your ancestors’ migration, their community, and their occupations.
Credit: Ancestry
Also, you may like to check the Historical Maps of North America and Europe – Essential Collection, which can help you with your North American ancestors, as well as your European ancestry.
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About Cassini Historical Maps!
Founded back in 2005 Cassini has now become the leading supplier of historical maps for both the United Kingdom and Ireland. They provide digital maps not only for consumers like you and me but businesses as well.
So, with businesses going to Cassini for their needs they must be doing something right, right?
Through their products, their goal is to help you to discover the hidden history of the British and the Irish landscapes. And in doing so you can get an insight into what life was like for your ancestors.
Cassini claims that they have set the standard when it comes to providing historical mapping. And on inspection of their website, this certainly seems to be the case, (I’ll cover what you can expect from their site shortly).
Their goal is to continue creating innovative products, and by doing so you will understand more about your ancestors.
You can find their products in shops, but to make it more convenient for you you can purchase from them directly online.
Occasionally there are reader offers and promotions that can be found in the following publications and outlets:
- Ancestry.co.uk
- Daily Mail
- Daily Mirror
- Daily Telegraph
- Johnson Press
- Saga Magazine
- The AA
- The National Archives
- The RGS
What the site offers today!
On the Cassini website, you will find the largest digital collections of Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping of Great Britain. So, there is a very good chance that you will find the map that you are after on this site.
Their maps have been geo-rectified, which means that the original image has been merged with the coordinates of today.
These reprints of historical OS maps therefore will match the scale, projection, and coverage of present-day maps.
You will find over 500 maps of Britain and Ireland that date back more than 200 years. This means that you can see how the landscape changed through the years when your ancestor originated from.
You can find maps that range from the 1:1000 scale right up to the road atlas scale of 1:250,000.
Do remember that maps bought from the site, and used for whatever purpose, must be done under license.
As the historical maps have been merged with coordinates this means that you can simply enter a postcode and this will bring up relevant maps for you.
Because of the simple to use search function this site has won several awards and many commendations from the family history community, and the national press as well.
Who is this site for?
As I discussed earlier this website is useful for both the consumer and business. But as a consumer reading this review who can exactly benefit from this site?
Anyone who has an interest in local history but also if you are a genealogist, family historian, or family sleuth then Cassini is for you!
If you are passionate about discovering your family history then you will want to know both where your ancestor lived and also where they worked.
Do remember that the landscape where your ancestor was from can contribute to the decisions that they made.
For example, how far did they need to travel to work, the landscape would have affected their method of travel, what was quality of soil and agriculture, and so on.
From looking at a map you can start to appreciate the distances that they would have traveled to find work. Maybe traveling hundreds of miles, or even thousands of miles to another country perhaps.
8 Different Products
Scrolling down the home page of the site you will be presented with several different products for you to choose to buy.
You have a choice of 8 different products that Cassini produces, all of which can either help your research or allow you to display the landscape through maps, canvases, and even mugs.
Here I will briefly mention what you can expect from each of the 8 kinds of products that are on offer at Cassini.
To create any map of your choice you first select your product. Then after that you either type in the postcode or the place name that you are interested in.
You then simply select the product that you want, set the number of items and add it to the basket.
1. Folded Maps
These are digitally enhanced reproductions that have been re-projected and enlarged so that they are scaled to modern-day maps.
This, therefore, means that you are easily able to make comparisons from a map of today to the time of your ancestors.
6 types of folded maps:
- Old Series – 1805 to 1874
- Revised New Series – 1896 to 1904
- Popular Edition – 1919 to 1926
- Past & Present – 1805 to today
- 3-map Box Sets – 1805 to 1926
- Bacon County Maps 1900
2. Framed Maps
Why not proudly display the map, or maps, of where your ancestors originated from. With Cassini, you have a choice of whether you want a single map that is framed, 2 maps, or even 4 maps if you wish.
- Deluxe Framed Maps – Showcase a map of your choice in 3 different frame colors.
- Deluxe Past & Present Maps – Display the landscape of your ancestor with a map of today.
- Four Map Framed Deluxe – See the change in scenery with maps taken through different periods.
3. Classic Frame
This is the same as the previous product, except that you have a choice of Classic (black frame), or Deluxe (teak-finish frame with a pale ivory mount).
The products within this selection are referred to as Single Map, Dual Map, and Quad Map.
4. Canvases
A step up from framed maps is canvases. And let me tell you that canvases do impress as they jump out to you from the wall.
There are 7 different mapping series for you to choose from that date from 1805 right up to the 1940s.
These canvases are quality-made and are protected with a satin finish. This means that the image will not fade under normal conditions.
Just in case you are wondering the prints are wrapped over a 1.5″ (40mm) frame. And when they do arrive at your home they are ready to hang.
3 sizes available:
- 16″x10″ (approx 40.6cm x 25.4cm)
- 24″x16″ (approx 60.9cm x 40.6cm)
- 36″x22″ (approx 91.4cm x 55.8cm)
5. Downloads
You may not be interested in displaying a frame or a canvas in your home. And that’s fine because the Downloads product will allow you to easily order and download to your computer a map of your choice.
With downloads, you get the map that you want immediately. You do not have to wait for it to arrive in the mail.
This is the perfect choice for you if you want a map of your ancestors’ homeland merely for research. Just order your map and then print it out.
To help protect your map(s) I would recommend that you laminate them. If you do not have a laminator in your home then you can simply go to a stationary shop where they can do this for you.
There are 8 different mapping series for this product that covers England, Scotland, and Wales.
6. Town Plans
This is ideal for family history where you can see the changes that occurred in your ancestors’ hometown through the ages.
These plans are available from the mid-1800s right through to the 1920s. And there are 468 available town maps for you to choose from.
Similar to the previous product you can download town plans to your computer immediately.
They come in different scales; 1:500, 1:528, or 1:1056.
7. Mapmaker Plus
This option allows you to print out 7 different maps ranging from 1855 right up to 1948. Or if you prefer you have a choice of 4 different maps for the present day.
Just enter a postcode or place name for where you are interested and then select from the period that you are interested in.
8. Mugs
Rather than displaying a framed map or canvas on a wall why not get a mug featuring a map?
With this product just enter a postcode to start creating your mug. Depending on the location you have a variety of years to choose from.
These will range from 1818 right up to the modern day.
The scale of the map will be 1:50,000 and the dimensions if you are interested will be; H – 8.6cm, W – 11.5cm, D – 9.5cm.
Old Parish Maps
Also available on this site are old parish maps only for England and Wales. Sorry but as yet there are no parish maps for Scotland.
Over 15,000 historical maps dating from 1880 to 1910 and are on a scale of 1:10,000.
You can simply search for the parish that you are looking for. Just enter the parish in the search box and then hit the ‘search‘ button.
Your map will then be displayed on the right of the screen, (with copyright watermarks), together with information such as the Registration District, County, and the Map Date.
To buy the map just click on the ‘add to basket‘ button and then pay for it. You can then immediately view the map when you have bought it.
Why buy an old parish map?
Family history researchers, genealogists, and historians can all benefit from these types of maps. The reason being is that boundaries may have altered over time and from these maps you can see the landscape as well.
So, you can get an understanding of the area in which your ancestor lived and how it may have affected them for work.
Unlike the 8 other products that are available on this site, these parish maps are purely for research. They are not suited for display, and as a note, they are best viewed on your computer screen.
Other considerations:
- Maps may not fit onto A3/A4 paper.
- Need Adobe Reader/similar PDF viewer.
- Some parish maps may be split into two.
- Zip files will be available for multiple file maps. You will need to be able to unzip these files.
Please note:
These maps have been re-scaled to 10,000 based on the old six-inch maps (1:10,560). And also the boundaries that are shown on them are taken from the 1911 census.
Help & Support
FAQs
To assist you with any queries that you may have Cassini offers a FAQs section. This can be accessed by clicking on the link from either the top-right or at the very bottom of the page.
This will bring up all sorts of questions, (and answers), covering topics such as:
- Why are Cassini maps useful?
- What is Mapmaker?
- What is a scale?
- Who owns the copyright?
- Can I reproduce the maps?
- And many other questions that you may have.
If these questions don’t answer your query there are contact details, (such as telephone numbers and email addresses), that is provided within the relevant questions.
Contact
Otherwise, if you still need assistance then you can click on the Contact link at the top-right of the page. This will bring up various contact details for Customer Services, Trade Sales, and Technical Support.
For each of these departments, there are email addresses and phone numbers provided.
If you fancy the old snail mail then there is also an address provided that you can write to for help.
Newsletter, Blog, and Social Media
You can get further guidance by signing up for the Cassini newsletter service which will keep you up-to-date with all the latest developments and products.
Also, by signing up for the newsletter you will receive regular discount offers, so it’s a win-win!
Cassini also produces a blog, although it isn’t updated quite regularly. The latest blog post is currently 5 months old. Still, you may find something useful on the blog.
There are Facebook and Twitter Cassini accounts that you can like and follow. However, these posts and tweets are updated as regularly as the blog posts.
Still, you may want to contact them by this method.
Pros & Cons
Pros
✔ A variety of products to choose from
✔ England and Wales extensively covered
✔ 200 years worth of maps
✔ Digitally enhanced
✔ FAQs, Contact Us, Newsletter, Blog, Social Media
✔ Regular Discount Offers
Cons
❌ Some limitations for Scotland
❌ No jigsaws – sometimes people like to play 🙂
Do I Recommend Cassini Historical Maps?
With over 500 maps available with a date range of 200 years there is a very good chance of finding what you are looking for here.
This is particularly true if you are searching for a place in either England or Wales. Unfortunately, this is not the case for Scotland or Ireland but is still worth checking out regardless.
The 8 products that I have discussed above are great for either displaying your ancestors’ homeland or even using for research.
However, if you do want to use this site for genealogy research then you are better off checking out the Old Parish Maps section of the site.
With more than 15,000 parish maps, dating from 1880 to 1910 there is also plenty of choice for you in this section of the site.
Do I recommend Cassini Historical Maps?
Yes, I do recommend Cassini Historical Maps.
If your ancestors are from England or Wales it’s worth checking out.
If you decide to buy any map from Cassini then please come back and let me know what you think of it. I would love to hear from you.
Great For UK and Irish Research!
Discover the landscape of the past!
Thank You and Please Leave A Comment
I hope you enjoyed this post giving my Cassini Maps Review. If you have any questions or comments then please leave a comment below.
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Owain, thank you very much for sharing this. My wife LOVES historical maps, and I really want to get her a map of Ireland for her birthday.
She is part Irish, so I think she would really cherish a canvas map specifically. I am thinking about the largest size available, the 36″x22″. The fact that the canvas maps are framed and ready to hang is a big plus.
Do you know if there are any problems with humidity and a canvas map? We live in a very humid area, so that would be my only concern.
Thanks again, I really appreciate this awesome review.
You’re welcome Steve. An excellent choice. I personally think that the bigger the canvas then the more of a statement that you’re making. And it will look very impressive indeed.
I’ve done something checking and the canvases have a satin finish, which is perfect for humidity prone areas.
All the best with the present.
Your review sounds really genuine. Thank you for sharing it. Not only is it just a review, but I just learnt something new today too! I just wonder if this site is for south east Asia too, or is it just for Europe region?
Hi Alicia,
Thank you for your comment and query. Unfortunately this is just for the U.K. and Ireland. But don’t worry as I plan to review other historical map sites that cover the rest of the world. Keep watching.
You have gone into great depth with this review so thank you very much. I didn’t realize just how much historical maps could help me with my research. I will definitely check Cassini out and see if it can help me with my ancestry.
Thank you Larmu for your kind words. I will be adding more reviews in the near future looking at historical maps. So hopefully you will check them out as well.
It wasn’t until I looked at maps that I started to really understand and appreciate the lives of my ancestors. I think it’s because you see it as a picture rather than reading it as words, and that it sinks in more that way. Hope that makes sense.