Maps of Cornwall

Map showing the Hundreds of Cornwall in the early 19th century, (formerly known as Cornish Shires).

Cornwall was originally known as Kernow or West Wales and this name applied to the Kingdom of Cornwall during the period of the Heptarchy (which referred to the separate kingdoms which made up Anglo-Saxon Angleland or England). One of the oldest maps still in existence depicting Cornwall is the 1290 Hereford Mappa Mundi currently on display in Hereford Cathedral in the United Kingdom. Many maps of the British Isles prior to the 17th century showed Cornwall (Cornubia/Cornwallia/Kernow) as a nation on a par with Wales and examples include the maps of Sebastian Münster, Abraham Ortelius, and Girolamo Ruscelli. After the 17th century, maps of Cornwall tended to no longer make the distinction between Anglia and Cornubia, the British Sea was renamed the English Channel and Cornwall was no longer shown as a separate entity from England on maps of the British Isles.