Documents

Having undertaken a physical survey of the building and fabric and an initial ‘desktop’ assessment of online research resources the next stage is usually to spend some time in the archives. Time spent trawling through dusty and often hard to read documents can sometimes produce valuable and fascinating historical insights.

Documents such as title deeds, probate records, census information and tithe maps (from c1840) can frequently reveal much about a building and the people associated with it. Using archives, it is sometimes possible to discover very old documents relating to the building or the land on which it was built. Documents in medieval Latin, including the Domesday Book or even pre 1066 Anglo-Saxon charters may offer fascinating glimpses of early land ownership and use in the locality.