Richard Newcourt (cartographer) facts for kids
Richard Newcourt (died 1679) was an English artist and mapmaker. He was known for drawing detailed pictures of places and for creating maps.
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His Life Story
Richard Newcourt was born near Tiverton, a town in Devon, England. His father was Philip Newcourt and his mother was Mary Tucker.
He later moved to Somerton in Somerset, where he owned land and lived. During a difficult time in England in 1652, his name was mentioned in a special law about land that was taken by the government.
Drawing Buildings and Mapping London
Richard Newcourt was friends with Sir William Dugdale, a famous historian. Newcourt drew pictures of old religious buildings for Dugdale's book, Monasticon Anglicanum.
He also drew a very important map of London. This map was made before the terrible Great Fire of London in 1666. Another artist named William Faithorne engraved it, meaning he carved the map onto plates so it could be printed. It was published in 1658 with a very long title: An Exact Delineation of the Cities of London and Westminster and the Suburbs thereof, Together with ye Burrough of Southwark And all ye Thorough-fares Highwaies Streetes Lanes and Common Allies wthin ye same Composed by a Scale, and Ichnographically described by Richard Newcourt of Somerton in the Countie of Somersett Gentleman.
This map was huge! It was printed on four large sheets and measured more than five feet across. It showed London as a "view map," which means it looked like you were seeing the city from above. However, it didn't show many details about individual buildings. For a long time, only one copy of this map was known to exist. But in the 1850s, another copy was found, and new copies were made from it.
His Plan for Rebuilding London
After the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the city, Richard Newcourt created a plan to rebuild it. He suggested laying out the city in a grid pattern, like a checkerboard. This would have divided London into 64 equal parts.
- Four of these parts would have been left open to create a large central square. This square would have been surrounded by houses, similar to the Piazza at Covent Garden.
- Four other areas would also have been open spaces. One of these would have held the rebuilt St Paul's Cathedral.
- Each of the other 55 areas would have become a single church area, with a church and churchyard in the middle.
- He also planned for a wide dock area, 60 yards wide, along the river. It would have had a continuous line of buildings built on arches.
Newcourt also made a slightly different plan where the city would have only 39 church areas. His full written plan was published in a book about London in 1805.
His Later Years
Richard Newcourt passed away in 1679. He was buried with his wife in Somerton. In his will, he mentioned his eldest son, also named Richard Newcourt, his second son, Gerard, who took over his property in Somerton, and his daughter, Mary.
