Chilterns Commons Project Training Workshop - Handout 18th February 2012 Researching historic maps – further information Ordnance Survey maps The earliest OS maps are the 1” and 2” drawings produced in the 1820s for military purposes. Next to be produced were the First Edition 6” and 25” per mile maps surveyed in the 1870s- 1880s. These do not give evidence of occupants of any area, but landscape features are easily seen on the 6” maps, just as you would expect of modern OS maps. The 25” maps are sufficiently detailed to show the locations of buildings. Churches, pubs and important houses are named, but not roads. Second Edition maps were produced for most regions around the 1900s and these were updated again in the 1919-1926 period, and so on. In this way the evolution of the landscape, of archaeological features, or of community history can all be traced and changes recorded. OS digital mapping started in the mid-1990s. Aerial photographs are available for most areas of the UK from the 1930s onwards, are particularly numerous during the war years, and have been taken at regular intervals since. Archaeological features can show up extremely well on these photos, but you need to look at a number of photos taken at different times of the year and from different angles, eg vertical and oblique. NB – Copyright states that OS maps can only be freely copied once over 50 years old. Inclosure maps These were produced for those parishes that enclosed their open fields in the 18th and early 19th centuries. They were very carefully drawn to show the new apportionment of the land which was also described in written Inclosure Awards. Plots and buildings are numbered, as with tithe maps. Highway diversions: 19th century maps that show the diversion or stopping of footpaths and highways made by order of the Quarter Sessions. A ‘Visual Map Index’ is usually available in the map store that shows these old maps overlaid on modern maps for ease of reference. Valuation maps Valuation maps were drawn for the revaluation of land by the Inland Revenue after 1910. They nd are coloured and annotated OS maps, usually 2 edition 25” per mile maps. Estate maps Surveys of estates or manors can be of variable dates. It is not unusual to find maps dating from the 1500s to 1700s. They were always commissioned by the Lord of the Manor or owner of the estate either to show the extent of their land or to record changes to it. They commonly show all the estate’s property and land boundaries, including field names and the names of those living in cottages on the estate at that time. Tithe maps The Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 resulted in most parishes producing these maps. They parish was surveyed on a large scale and a detailed text (called an ‘award’ or ‘apportionment’ accompanies it listing information about the parish, township or tithing. Tithe maps are extremely useful as buildings are clearly shown and names for fields or land units are on the maps. The apportionment text can be used to provide information on ownership, tenancy, land use and value. Each building or field is numbered on the map and the number can be found in the accompanying text which gives all the details about property or land. Chilterns Commons Project is run by the Chilterns Conservation Board and supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. Locating documents Where to find old maps: • County Record Offices or Archives: Aylesbury; Bedford; Cowley (Oxford); Hertford • Internet: www.old-maps.co.uk • British Library www.bl.uk in Search - type “Surveyors drawings” • Google “OS Surveyors drawings” • David & Charles Reprints 1st edition 1-inch www.davidandcharles.co.uk £4.89 • Cassini Publishing 1st edition 1-inch www.cassinimaps.co.uk £7.99 • Edina Historic Digimap (for HE and FE) Internet • British History Online www.british-history.ac.uk Click on region; look for Victoria County History, then your county • The National Archives www.nationalarchives.gov.uk Click on Records, look under Quick links for In-Depth Research Guides • British Library Help for Researchers www.bl.uk/reshelp/index.html for map and other information • Heritage Gateway www.heritagegateway.org.uk includes links to Historic Environment Records • www.magic.defra.gov.uk Use to identify land designations or habitats Bedfordshire County Archaeology Service – now Albion Archaeology Ltd www.albion-arch.com Bedfordshire Historic Environment Record (HER) www.bedford.gov.uk/environment_and_planning/heritage_and_environment/historic_environmen t_record.aspx Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Records Service www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice Bedfordshire Biodiversity and Monitoring Recording Centre www.bedsbionet.org.uk Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/archives/centre_for_buckinghamshire_studies.page Bucks County Council Archaeological Service – Unlocking Buckinghamshire’s Past (Bucks HER) https://ubp.buckscc.gov.uk/ Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Environmental Record Centre www.buckinghamshirepartnership.co.uk Hertfordshire Historic Environment Record (HER) www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway/chr/herdetail.aspx?crit=&ctid=95&id=4762 Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies www.hertsdirect.org/hals Hertfordshire Biological Records Centre http://enquire.hertscc.gov.uk/hbrc/ Oxfordshire County Archaeological Service www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/countyarchaeology Chilterns Commons Project is run by the Chilterns Conservation Board and supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. Oxfordshire History Centre – this centre now combines Oxfordshire Record Office, Oxfordshire Studies and Oxfordshire Health archives www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/oro Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (covers Oxon & Berks) www.tverc.org Defra’s MAGIC website for • the exact location and boundaries of Registered Common Land • the location of land (often former commons) registered as Village Green in 1965 • information about habitats Search the Interactive Map – the “Access” topic shows commons and village greens http://magic.defra.gov.uk/ Museum of English Rural Life – in Reading www.reading.ac.uk/merl Photographic Archives – eg University of St Andrews Library http://special.st-andrews.ac.uk/saspecial/index.php Local history groups County and local museums Archives of local newspapers Local studies sections of public libraries General reading list Aston, M. 1985 Interpreting the Landscape. Landscape Archaeology in Local Studies. Batsford Bowden, M. 1999 Unravelling the Landscape: An Inquisitive Approach to Archaeology. Tempus Field, J. 1989 English Place Names: A Dictionary. Alan Sutton Gelling, M. 1984 Place-names in the Landscape. Dent Harley, J.B. 1967 Enclosure and Tithe Maps. The Amateur Historian 7: 8 pp 265-274 Hassal, W.O.,1951 Hillwork. Oxoniensia 16: pp 89-90 Horn, Pamela - Many factual books about rural life, some Oxfordshire based. Horn, P. 1987 Labouring Life in the Victorian Countryside Gill & Macmillan Ltd Horn, P. 1984 The Changing Countryside in Victorian and Edwardian England and Wales, Continuum International Publishing Group Hoskins, W.G. 1955 The Making of the English Landscape. Pelican (This was one of the first works looking at landscapes from an historic perspective. There are more recent editions of this book.) Rackham, O. 1986 The History of the Countryside. Dent Wilson, D. 2000 2nd Ed. Air Photo Interpretation for Archaeologists. Tempus Chilterns Commons Project is run by the Chilterns Conservation Board and supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. Books and other sources on commons in the Chilterns area Baines, A.H.J. Turville, Radenore and the Chiltern Feld Records of Bucks, Vol XXIII 1981 Bond, J., Gosling, S., Rhodes, J., 1980 The Clay Industries of Oxfordshire: Oxfordshire Brickmakers. Oxfordshire County Council Chilterns Conservation Board, 2006. Chilterns Brick: A Design Guide. See www. chilternsaonb.org/downloads/publications Green, D., Kidd, S. 2011 The Making of the Chilterns Landscape Chilterns Conservation Board See www. chilternsaonb.org/downloads/publications Lord Eversley 1910 Commons, Footpaths and Forests. Cassell Hepple, L. & Doggett, A. 1994 The Chilterns. Phillimore Hoskins W.G. & Stamp L.D. 1963 The Commons Lands of England and Wales. Collins Federation of Women’s Institutes 1993 Buckinghamshire Within Living Memory Lewis, M.D., 2004 History of Brick and Pottery Making in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire www.nettlebed.org.uk/Brick_History.htm Reed, M. 1979 The Buckinghamshire Landscape. Hodder & Stroughton (Part of The Making of the English Landscape series. A good synthesis of the landscape history despite being a little dated.) Whybrow, G.H. 1934. The history of Berkhamsted Common. The Commons, Open Spaces and Footpaths Preservation Society The Victoria County History volumes which cover Beds, Bucks, Herts & Oxon. NB Check which volume covers the parishes you are interested in. Page, William, ed. (1912). A History of the County of Bedford, Volume 3. Victoria County History Page, William, ed. (1905). A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 1. Victoria County History Page, William, ed. (1908). A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 2. Victoria County History Page, William, ed. (1925). A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 3. Victoria County History Page, William, ed. (1927). A History of the County of Buckingham, Volume 4. Victoria County History Doubleday, H. Arthur; Page, William, eds. (1902). A History of the County of Hertford, Volume 1. Victoria County History Page, William, ed. (1908). A History of the County of Hertford, Volume 2. Victoria County History. Page, William, ed. (1912). A History of the County of Hertford, Volume 3. Victoria County History. Page, William, ed. (1971). A History of the County of Hertford, Volume 4. Victoria County History. Chilterns Commons Project is run by the Chilterns Conservation Board and supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. Salzman, Louis F, ed.; Page, William; Salter, Herbert E.; Lobel, Mary D; Crossley, Alan (1939). A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 1. Victoria County History Page, William, ed. (1907). A History of the County of Oxford, Volume 2.