The Burleigh Map of Tudor Shrewsbury
In 2011 and 2012, for the Shropshire Yarns exhibition at the Gateway Gallery in Shrewsbury, I wove a series of tapestries based on a small map of Tudor Shrewsbury currently housed in the British Library, where it's in too delicate a state to be on show.
This little known gem is called the Burleigh Map of Tudor Shrewsbury. It was commissioned by William Cecil, later to become Lord Burleigh, for his sovereign, Elizabeth I. More than a map of Shrewsbury, however, it records Shrewsbury as it would have been in medieval times, before all the 'home improvements' of the Elizabethan era. The tragedy isn't just that it can't be viewed any longer, but that most Shrewsbury people don't even know it exists.
This map is worth knowing about. By breaking it into sections, blowing these up and turning them into tapestry weavings, I hoped to bring it to a wider audience.
In 2011 and 2012, for the Shropshire Yarns exhibition at the Gateway Gallery in Shrewsbury, I wove a series of tapestries based on a small map of Tudor Shrewsbury currently housed in the British Library, where it's in too delicate a state to be on show. 
This little known gem is called the Burleigh Map of Tudor Shrewsbury. It was commissioned by William Cecil, later to become Lord Burleigh, for his sovereign, Elizabeth I. More than a map of Shrewsbury, however, it records Shrewsbury as it would have been in medieval times, before all the 'home improvements' of the Elizabethan era. The tragedy isn't just that it can't be viewed any longer, but that most Shrewsbury people don't even know it exists. 
This map is worth knowing about. By breaking it into sections, blowing these up and turning them into tapestry weavings, I hoped to bring it to a wider audience. 
