We started by searching the internet for examples of village or parish maps and used these as the basis for a display at a coffee morning, where people who were interested were invited to form a map group.

As we wanted this to be a community project we decided we would design the map and create all the illustrations ourselves.

We decided on informal monthly map meetings and compiled a list of historical features and local flora and fauna at our first meeting, so that members of the group could choose their first subjects.

Artists were encouraged to use their own style and work in any medium. Each month, art work was shared with the group and further subjects from the list. As a result of the VDS workshop, we had access to a bank of photographs of village buildings and features which was very useful for
reference. We were very lucky to have an IT specialist in the group who regularly collected and scanned the illustrations.

The map was created in layers using Corel Draw and Photoshop and as the finished size will be A0, it used a huge amount of computer memory and its construction demanded considerable time and skill.

We decided on an informal border which incorporated animals and plants as well as a motif based on a mediaeval wall painting from Blackchapel.

The map is to be displayed on the reverse of a new parish notice board, so the map has been rotated to match the orientation of the reader viewing the map on the green.

The final digital version of the map includes illustrations, house names or numbers, footpaths and historical notes. In this format it can be printed, then encased in laminate and framed before it is finally attached to the
notice board.