Compare the two maps - the 1672 map shows Old Portsmouth, which would have remained relatively unchanged in its layout since the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and in it we can see how neatly the de Gisors' plan was, with mostly parallel streets, crossing each other more or less at right angles.
Later developments sometimes made an effort to follow this idea, but largely without continuation or real success, as builders and landowners sought to maximise the area available for housing and other building work. |
