Nicholas Lane (c. 1585-1644) was an English surveyor and cartographer, active in the early part of the seventeenth century, rising to prominence in his works for King Charles I.
[6] He was professionally active as a surveyor by 1613 when he mapped lands at Painshill which were the subject of a continuing dispute between Robert Bickerstaffe and James Starr,[note 4] and somewhat later he surveyed the manor of Slyfield in Great Bookham for the purpose of arbitration proceedings arising from its sale by Henry Bretton to George Shiers, apothecary to James I, in 1614.
In 1621 he mapped land at Chessington forming part of the manor of Malden, held by John Goode from the Crown but claimed by Merton College, Oxford.
[17] The social status of Lane's clients increased[note 7] and in the later 1630s he was employed by the Crown in connection with the creation of both Richmond Park and Longford River.
[20][21][22] In the same year he was commissioned to plan the scheme whereby water from the River Colne at Longford would be diverted to Hampton Court Palace.
For example, Lane's map of Putney, combined with the 1665 hearth tax list, has provided a key source for reconstructing a detailed view of life in the London suburb in the later seventeenth century.