Source/Archive record SEM8118 - 1 Inch Ordnance Surveyors draft map - Barnstaple, Devon

The indication of land relief and attention to communication routes on this plan conform to the military and cartographic standards employed by the West Country survey. The south of England was the area most vulnerable to invasion, especially during the Napoleonic conflicts between 1793 and 1815. Accurate mapping of the Devonshire coastline was, therefore, of great military significance. Towards the left of the plan, the sand dunes of Braunton Burrows stretch southwards from the sea at Barnstaple Bay towards Appledore and Bideford.