Personalised Old Map of St Albans

Explore the fascinating history of St Albans with our personalised old map, an exquisite journey through time that beautifully unites your personal story with the town's rich heritage. Whether you’re looking for a unique gift for a history enthusiast or a bespoke piece for your own home, this map offers an intimate glimpse into the past. Capture and memorialise the town as it was from 1870 to 1960, enabling you or your loved ones to explore significant changes through time and connect to the fascinating narratives that unfolded in the heart of Hertfordshire.

Your map will showcase the area around notable locations such as the ancient St Albans Cathedral, the bustling St Peter's Street, or the historic Verulamium Park. You might also glimpse the early days of St Michael's Church or the charming Clock Tower. These iconic landmarks and districts, rich with historical significance, offer a window into the past, helping you appreciate the layers of history that have shaped the area we know today.

Our St Albans maps are wonderfully customisable. Craft a map that centres on your home or an area of personal significance, and highlight cherished spots, from where you first met a loved one to your favourite local café. Add a personal touch with your own dedication or a bespoke title and subtitle that resonates with your experiences or inside jokes. Each map is crafted with love, allowing for endless personalisation options to make it truly unique.

Your personalised map could focus on these suburbs & neighbourhoods in St Albans

• St Albans City Centre
• Verulamium
• Fleetville
• Marshalswick
• Sopwell
• Park Street
• Chiswell Green
• Sandridge
• Jersey Farm
• Harpenden

Our maps are created with top-tier quality, using the giclée printing technique on archival-grade paper or artist's cotton canvas. This ensures longevity and immaculate clarity. Available in various styles, you can choose from a sleek acrylic frame or a classic FSC-certified wood frame. Alternatively, opt for a "float framed" stretched canvas for a sophisticated touch, enhancing the appeal of your custom historical map.

The map of St Albans is crafted from authentic Ordnance Survey maps, a hallmark of British cartographic excellence since the late 19th century. These maps, originally produced for meticulous geographical surveys, are celebrated for their artistic charm and high precision. Featuring the 6-inch and 1:10,000 OS map series, they offer rich details and aesthetic appeal, making them a beloved choice for historians and collectors alike. Embrace a slice of history with this beautifully detailed representation of St Albans, personally tailored to your own narrative.

Please note you are purchasing a fully customised old map. Modern landmarks, such as your house, may not have been built yet! You can contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

Generally, larger maps look much better than smaller maps, because you can enjoy all of the smaller details. If you need a smaller map, I would suggest ‘zooming in’ so that the map covers a smaller area.

Because these maps are custom made to order, we can make you a map that looks great at at any size, from very small (8x10in/20x25cm) all the way to a few metres. If you are looking for a very large map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.

Every map can be personalised or customised, for example if you want to mark your house or street on the map. The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

This personalised map would make a wonderful housewarming, birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, Mother’s Day, wedding anniversary or work leaving gift for someone from St Albans, or someone who works there.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or on artist’s cotton canvas. Several frame choices are available for free, or custom framing is available for an additional fee. Please get in touch if you’re looking to order a very large map for a hotel or office, or if you’re looking for a size that isn’t available on my shop.

For most orders, delivery time is about 3 working days. Personalised and customised products take longer, as I have to do the personalisation and send it to you for approval, which usually takes 1 or 2 days.

Please note that very large framed orders usually take longer to make and deliver. 

If you need your order to arrive by a certain date, please contact me before you order so that we can find the best way of making sure you get your order in time.

I print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world. This means your order will be made locally, which cuts down on delivery time and ensures that it won't be damaged during delivery. You'll never pay customs or import duty, and we'll put less CO2 into the air.

All of my maps and art prints are well packaged and sent in a rugged tube if unframed, or surrounded by foam if framed.

I try to send out all orders within 1 or 2 days of receiving your order, though some products (like face masks, mugs and tote bags) can take longer to make.

If you select Express Delivery at checkout your order we will prioritise your order and send it out by 1-day courier (Fedex, DHL, UPS, Parcelforce).

Next Day delivery is also available in some countries (US, UK, Singapore, UAE) but please try to order early in the day so that we can get it sent out on time.

Read my full delivery and local production guide

My standard frame is a gallery style black ash hardwood frame. It is simple and quite modern looking. My standard frame is around 20mm (0.8in) wide.

I use super-clear acrylic (perspex/acrylite) for the frame glass. It's lighter and safer than glass - and it looks better, as the reflectivity is lower.

Six standard frame colours are available for free (black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white and antique gold). Custom framing and mounting/matting is available if you're looking for something else.

Most maps, art and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte (not shiny) cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced box wood frame, and then 'float' the piece within a wood frame. The end result is quite beautiful, and there's no glazing to get in the way.

All frames are provided "ready to hang", with either a string or brackets on the back. Very large frames will have heavy duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

See some examples of my framed maps and framed canvas maps.

Alternatively, I can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag and other materials.

If you want to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read my size guide first.

My maps are extremely high quality reproductions of original maps.

I source original, rare maps from libraries, auction houses and private collections around the world, restore them at my London workshop, and then use specialist giclée inks and printers to create beautiful maps that look even better than the original.

My maps are printed on acid-free archival matte (not glossy) paper that feels very high quality and almost like card. In technical terms the paper weight/thickness is 10mil/200gsm. It's perfect for framing.

I print with Epson ultrachrome giclée UV fade resistant pigment inks - some of the best inks you can find.

I can also make maps on canvas, cotton rag and other exotic materials.

Learn more about The Unique Maps Co.

Map personalisation

If you're looking for the perfect anniversary or housewarming gift, I can personalise your map to make it truly unique. For example, I can add a short message, or highlight an important location, or add your family's coat of arms.

The options are almost infinite. Please see my map personalisation page for some wonderful examples of what's possible.

To order a personalised map, select "personalise your map" before adding it to your basket.

Get in touch if you're looking for more complex customisations and personalisations.

Map ageing

I have been asked hundreds of times over the years by customers if they could buy a map that looks even older.

Well, now you can, by selecting Aged before you add a map to your basket.

All the product photos you see on this page show the map in its Original form. This is what the map looks like today.

If you select Aged, I will age your map by hand, using a special and unique process developed through years of studying old maps, talking to researchers to understand the chemistry of aging paper, and of course... lots of practice!

If you're unsure, stick to the Original colour of the map. If you want something a bit darker and older looking, go for Aged.

See some amazing examples of Aged maps.

If you are not happy with your order for any reason, contact me for a no-quibble refund.

I am very confident you will like your restored map or art print. I have been doing this since 1984. I'm a 5-star Etsy seller. I have sold tens of thousands of maps and art prints and have over 4,000 real 5-star reviews.

I use a unique process to restore maps and artwork that is massively time consuming and labour intensive. Hunting down the original maps and illustrations can take months. I use state of the art and eye-wateringly expensive technology to scan and restore them. As a result, I guarantee my maps and art prints are a cut above the rest - that's why I can offer a no-quibble refund.

Almost all of my maps and art prints look amazing at large sizes (200cm, 6.5ft+) and I can frame and deliver them to you as well, via special oversized courier. Contact me to discuss your specific needs.