Further Resources to Help You Research Your Home's History
On this page is a list of useful websites and online information to help you in your research, along with some suggestions of further reading in print.
Online resources
National Heritage List for England. If your building is listed it will appear on this online searchable database. You could find out what's important about it, and see if there are further details on its age and style.
Historic England Archives. Online catalogue of photos and archive material held at the Historic England Archive in Swindon.
Aerial Photo Explorer. Explore aerial photos of your area on a map. Over 400,000 photos from Historic England's aerial collection of 6 million have already been digitised.
England's Places. A photo collection dating from the earliest photography in the 1850s up to the early 1990s. Subjects include churches, country houses, historic buildings, modern architecture, street scenes and village-scapes.
National Archives. The UK Government's official archive holds over 1,000 years of public records. Its website includes a searchable online catalogue and online guides to various topics such as wills and probate records, and census returns.
Find your local archives. Enter your postcode to find your local authority archives.
Heritage Gateway. You can search national and local records of England's historic sites and buildings on the Heritage Gateway website.
Historic Environment Records (HERs). Maintained by local planning authorities, HERs provide comprehensive information and evidence about the historic environment in a particular area.
Land Registry. Information on home ownership and title deeds may be found at the Land Registry.
British History Online. Primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain.
Local History Online. This website contains useful information as well as many links and contact details for local history societies.
Victoria County History series: An encyclopaedic record of England's places and people from earliest times to the present day.
The Enclosure Maps of England and Wales. Searchable database of the enclosure maps of England and Wales, giving their locations at archive repositories
The Workhouse: The Story of an Institution. Website covering the history of workhouses in the British Isles, by P. Higginbotham
Useful publications
A selection of published material that may be helpful in tracing the history of a house.
Barratt, N., Tracing the History of Your House, The National Archives, 2006.
Beech, G., and Mitchell, R., Maps for Family and Local History: The Records of the Tithe, Valuation Office and National Farm Surveys of England and Wales, 1836-1943, The National Archives, 2003.
Gibson, J.S.W., and Rogers, C., Electoral Registers since 1832 and Burgess Rolls, Federation of Family History Societies, 1990.
Gibson, J.S.W, The Hearth Tax, Other Later Stuart Tax Lists and the Association Oath Rolls, Federation of Family History Societies, 1996.
Grannum, K., and Taylor, N., Wills and Probate Records: A Guide for Family Historians, The National Archives, 2009.
Harvey, J. H., Sources for the History of Houses, British Records Association, 1968.
Thom, C., Researching London's Houses: an Archives Guide, Historical Publications Limited, 2005
Victoria County History series: See 'Online Resources' above.
