Every month we go through our back catalogue of maps and the many amazing supporters of the blog over on Patreon vote on which two should be re-released under the free commercial use license. The first such release this month is an “ancient” map in my reckoning, going back to 2013.

Axebridge over Blackbay dates back to an urban mapping “kick” I was on in late 2013. It is also one of my favourite non-standard cities, as the defenses are very different than a typical walled city.

Regardless, here’s Axebridge over Blackbay (just called Axebridge by most). This city is fortified only along the waterfront, so the impression is that they have come under naval attack before. However, the lack of other defensive structures implies that the city is well-positioned in a friendly and generally civilized environment. The number of different docks implies numerous merchant and fishing families / businesses, and that the city has grown in spurts since it was founded, requiring new docks as more naval traffic starting using the port. It is quite likely on a fairly small island and relies on the naval forces of friendly neighbours.

This map was drawn in a 4×6 inch booklet using a 0.7mm black gel pen.

This map is made available to you under a free license for personal or commercial use under the “RELEASE THE KRAKEN” initiative thanks to the awesome supporters of my Patreon Campaign. Over 600 awesome patrons have come together to fund the site and these maps, making them free for your use.

Because of the incredible generosity of my patrons, I’m able to make this map free for commercial use also. Each month while funding is over the $400 mark, we choose a map from the blog’s extensive back catalog to retroactively release under this free commercial license. You can use, reuse, remix and/or modify the maps that are being published under the commercial license on a royalty-free basis as long as they include attribution (“Cartography by Dyson Logos” or “Maps by Dyson Logos”).

Please note that the promotional version of this map (the one with the brown paper background) is not included in this commercial use license.