 | | |
Researching your house
|
| First steps | | |
The County Record Office (CRO) holds a large and varied collection of archival material which may help you in your house research. However, research is time-consuming and you should not expect to discover everything on your first visit. The Search Room staff can only help and advise, (a paid research service may be available if you cannot carry out your own research). We must emphasise we cannot give legal advice.
Decide precisely what you want to know; is it the date your house was built, (you may not be able to establish this precisely), or its architectural history, or the history of its owners / occupants and uses?
It is essential that you carry out some background reading to familiarise yourself with relevant terms. It may be useful for you to consult some books on architecture. Local libraries will be able to help you with this but some examples are :
- Tracing the History of your House, Peter Bushell, (Pavilion)
- The British House, Edmund Gray, (Barrie & Jenkins)
- How Old is your House?, Pamela Cunnington, (Collins)
- House and Home, Anthony Quiney, (BBC)
The above books are all available from Warwickshire libraries.
It will also be helpful if you look at the deeds for the house. These tell you the story of the ownership of the property and often record if it has been divided into more than one unit; they may also include names of the occupants. If they are not in your possession, you can try to find out where they are. They could have been deposited with us or deeds from the 20th century onwards could be held by the Land Registry which must be approached separately. If your house is mortgaged the deeds may be with the lender who will give you sight of them but may require a fee.
|
| Questions you need to address | | |
Think about the following questions:
- How old is the house? e.g. 1960s, 1920s, 1900, Victorian, Georgian, earlier? Is it similar to its neighbours?
- Has it a number or a name? Do you know if either has been changed?
- How big is it? If it is called a “cottage” this may be a misnomer.
- Can you see any signs of alterations? e.g. blocked windows, new roof, extensions, evidence of chimneys.
- What materials have been used in its construction? What is the roof made of?
- Are there any distinctive features? e.g. external decoration, timber framing, type of windows, porch.
- Do you know if the garden is its original size?
- Have you talked to established neighbours or inhabitants?
- Have you contacted any local history society or seen its publications?
- Has your house been converted from a specialised building, e.g. school, parsonage, etc.?
|
| Sources in the record office | | |
Having established which parish your house is in you will need to consult original documents. These may include:
Maps and Plans: Ordnance Survey, (19th-20th century), both 6” & 25” scale; tithe maps, (19th century); inclosure maps/plans, (18th-19th century); estate and other maps, (17th-20th century); deposited plans re public/private schemes, (19th-20th century). Building regulation plans for towns are often available from the 1880’s onwards, and for some rural areas for this century.
Deeds: Their survival is very patchy; most have come from local solicitors and landowners. You should bear in mind, however, that identification of a bundle of deeds with an actual property may be difficult before house names and numbers became common.
Census Returns: Although they are full of information it can be difficult to be sure that you have identified your property correctly. They should be used in conjunction with other evidence. They are taken every ten years and are currently available for 1841 - 1891. Coverage is fairly complete.
Tax records: Land tax assessments, (18th-20th century); Hearth tax returns, (late 17th century).
Registers of Electors: This is particularly useful for 20th century buildings.
Surveys and valuations: These are not common or comprehensive in their cover. Some date from the 16th century.
Sale particulars: These come from estate agents and again are not comprehensive. They date mainly from the mid-nineteenth century. Some have inventories of house contents and room descriptions
Rate Books: There is nearly a complete set for 1910, but survival for other periods is patchy.
Probate inventories: These are lists of contents of houses, often room by room, which usually accompany the wills of the occupants, (late 16th to mid-18th century). However, we are not a probate registry, so we do not have the main wills series.
Manorial records: Particularly useful for very old houses, medieval and Tudor, but can be relevant into the 19th century for a small number of places. They are largely a record of people rather than buildings, but may give useful clues.
Photographs and prints: We have an excellent collection, particularly for the 19th century.
You may be particularly interested in the following types of documents if your house was a specialised building that has been converted into a house. Indexes you may find particularly useful are the General Index, the Schools Index and the Property Index.
School: Parish Records (if a Church School), County Council records
Parsonage: Parish records, Glebe terriers, Churchwardens’ accounts and presentments
Non Conformist Meeting House or Manse: Quarter Sessions Ref: QS 10
Public House: Quarter Sessions Alehouse Registers and Recognizance’s Ref: QS 36 & 37, late 19th century onwards Petty Sessions licensing registers, directories.
Large Estate: If your house belonged to a large estate the relevant estate / family records may provide information. Ask for the Estate Maps Guide.
Parish Charity: If it belonged to a parish charity the relevant parish records or charity trustees’ records may have been deposited and be available.
Depending on the approximate date of your house the office holds the following useful sources:-
- OS Maps - Pre-war 6" and 25" at editions c1885, 1905, 1920 and 1938. The Post War series covers the years from the 1950s - 1980s.
- Directories - We hold the series of Kelly's commercial directories for the county covering the period from the 1830s - 1940s. We also hold a set of localised Spennell's directories dating from the 1880s up to the 1970s covering the Warwick/Leamington area and the villages in between. These are very useful for tracing property with a commercial/trade association.
- Rate Books - Depending on the place concerned some of the holdings that we have date back to the mid 19th century. They provide details of an exact address, owner and occupier for each property especially useful in urban areas.
- Tithe Maps and Schedules - Based on an area of a parish these maps and schedules are very useful in providing details of owners and occupiers for every property and piece of land in the parish. They date from the late 1830 to the 1850s. They do not survive for every parish. Visit our Tithe Apportionments database to find out more.
For very old and unusual buildings there are also more specialised sources to investigate at the Record Office.
|
| Useful books | | |
All of the following are available at the record office.
- Documenting the History of Houses by N.W.Alcock CRO Ref: D.690 Alc(P)
- Discovering this Old House by David Iredale CRO Ref: D. 690 Ire(P)
- The Buildings of Warwickshire by Niklaus Pevsner CRO Ref: WAR/PEVS. - Good architectural glossary at the back.
- Sources for the History of Houses by J.H. Harvey CRO Ref: D.720. HAR(P)
- Victoria County History
- Listed Buildings List
- Books and pamphlets on your village / locality
- Trade and Post Office Directories
|
|
|