Century-old road maps made available online

The maps showed all roads and bridges managed by the council

Historical records of a county's roads and bridges commissioned by a local authority have been made freely available online.

A 1905 survey recorded all of the highways and bridges for which Oxfordshire County Council was responsible.

Following the council's creation in 1889, the survey was the first of its kind in the county.

The records have now been digitised and can be found on the authority's History Centre website.

Councillor Neil Fawcett, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for community and corporate services, said: “It's fascinating to witness history come alive online and see the extensive changes in Oxfordshire over time."

Sketches from the 19th Century showing the county's bridges have also been made available

“The materials available at our History Centre are among the numerous resources that highlight our county's heritage," he said.

The surveyors, led by Sidney Stallard, prepared the roads and bridges survey on a set of first edition six-inch Ordnance Survey maps, on sheets dating from 1874 to 1881.

The maps were produced at the request of the council’s Roads and Bridges Committee.

They are based on the historical boundaries of Oxfordshire before 1974 - when places to the south of the River Thames, such as Abingdon, were in Berkshire.

Alongside the 1905 maps, the council's History Centre has also published an album of colour sketches of Oxfordshire bridges, dating from 1839 to 1873.

The sketches were mainly drawn by Sophia Davenport, wife of JM. Davenport, Oxfordshire's then Clerk of the Peace.