In these two articles John Townley writes about the insights into the growth of Birmingham in the late 18th Century at a time when the population of the town expanded from about 42,000 in 1779 to more than 52,000 less than a decade later.
​Using these maps he shows how the town absorbed the surrounding fields, new streets were added, and canals were dug.
https://historywm.com/articles/late-eighteenth-century-birmingham-a-history-in-maps