The Milton Abbas Local History Group have used the survey and maps which William Woodward drew up for Lord Milton around 1779. The originals are in the Dorset History Centre D-919/5 and they have an interesting history in themselves, besides giving us so much valuable information on the Old Town of Milton Abbas, including the names of all the tenants and their holdings.
Clive Barnes has been researching the life of William Woodward and the extraordinary work which he carried out. His detailed research is on our website.
Clive writes:
William Woodward is well known to members of the Milton Abbas History Group as the man who drew up a survey of Lord Milton’s Milton Abbas estate in 1769-1771, on the eve of the destruction of the old town and the building of the new village. But, while we know a lot about the survey itself, we know nothing about the man who drew it up.
Sometimes research can take you in unexpected but fascinating directions, and you may end up a long way from Milton Abbas, so it is with William Woodward.
Milton Abbas Local History Group, Dorset, UK 
Thank you for sharing your findings, Clive. It is interesting to me that William Woodward was hired in 1773 to survey Kingston Lacy. My 5th great grandfather, William Beach, died in 1773 after catching cold that led to a serious lung infection. His illness began while he was surveying Kingston Lacy! William Beach was born and raised in Milton Abbas, the eldest son of Thomas Beach and Ursula Bryer (pub owners) and brother of Thomas Beach, portrait artist.
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