WELCOME TO THE NOTSWOLDS

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A MAP BY ADAM DANT

SIX COUNTIES.
CENTURIES OF STORIES.
ONE EXTRAORDINARY MAP.

Commissioned by Notswolds and illustrated by Adam Dant, Welcome to the Notswolds is a love letter to an often overlooked part of England.

Through history, folklore and local legend, Adam has brought to life the people, places and peculiar tales that shape our six counties.

STORIES OF A PLACE

HEROES, REBELS & CURIOUS TALES

LEGENDS
Outlaws in the forest, witches, wise men and feats of impossible strength. Stories passed down, embellished and retold across the Notswolds for centuries.
POWER, PALACE & GRAND HOUSES

HISTORY
Kings, queens, statesmen and some very grand houses. For centuries, power, wealth and patronage have shaped the landscape, architecture and culture of the Notswolds.
RITUALS, REVELRY & PECULIAR TRADITIONS

FOLKLORE
Bottle kicking, straw bears, bull running and flowers by the million. Centuries-old customs, curious rituals and traditions that could only have happened here.
ARTISTS, WRITERS & GREAT MINDS

IDEAS & IMAGINATION
Poets, painters, writers, scientists and thinkers. From Isaac Newton to Dame Laura Knight, extraordinary minds have emerged from this patch of England.
GIANTS, BEASTS & STRANGE GOINGS-ON

DISCOVER
A sea dragon in Rutland. Giants in the Fens. Black dogs, rampaging bulls and other strange encounters between man and beast.

THE MAKING OF THE MAP

The commission began with an unusual proposition: to give form to a region that has never been clearly drawn, and to find the stories that might define it.

Adam spent months immersed in old maps, archives, local histories and folklore, following one story into another. From hundreds of possibilities came the characters, landmarks and peculiarities that would eventually find their place.

Each was drawn and painted by hand, then worked into the landscape to create something more than a geography: a richly layered portrait of a place, and the stories that have shaped it.

IN THE STUDIO

THE EDITION