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Archaeology and Maps |
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Historic Maps
During the eighteenth century changes in rural landownership were recorded on enclosures award maps, while taxes paid to the church by landowners were sometimes written on tithe award maps. Other maps show landscaped gardens; battlefields and provide plans of factories and mines. Such maps are held in county record offices. Some may be in private hands or belong to churches or local history libraries. The early part of the nineteenth century the OS (Ordinance Survey) mapped each county at 1 inch to 1 mile. From the 1880s OS 6 inch to 1 mile maps provided more detail of individual buildings and even hedge species. By examining a succession of maps for any area, changes in land use and built environment can be easily seen. In large built up areas you should consult the 25-inch map. This will give a whole new picture of the area that you are studying. You can obtain a copy of maps that are old, as it will not be affected by copyright laws. To be able to get the best results use Large scale maps 1:10,000 or 1:10,560, modern maps are find as they contain a large amount of data such as churches, earthworks, old buildings, castles and standing stones. Maps also give detail of boundaries, roads, hedges, and modern field. The best results for boundaries is to use the 25-inch map, also the tithe map can give you the same result. Maps can also show irregularities. This will no doubt give clues to avoiding other features.
Most field names are fairly straightforward for example forty acres or pasture. However, some field names are much harder and unless you are we to dealing with them you may find it a struggle to work out what they actually mean. They are books out in the market place that will help you to further understand the nature of field names. Also remember to write the field name down as it looks, not as you think it should sound. The study of field-names requires an appreciation of the substantial part played by agriculture in the lives of our medieval forebears and its development in subsequent periods. In open-field areas the holdings of tenants would be in separate strips, sometimes widely scattered in furlongs of three or more fields. After the enclosure of the common fields, the newly created closes also received names, many of which throw considerable light on the social and agriculture, medieval grants and deeds, together with the later records of estates and individual farms, will provide a sequence of field-names often going back several centuries. In the area of England known as the Danelaw, names of Scandinavian origin are encountered, as well as terms of mixed parentage. If large numbers of Scandinavian words occur in the filed-names of an area, even where the village names are mostly English, it is safe to infer that there was a considerable Danish or Norse presence there when the names were first recorded. As we can see that fields-names are vital in giving information about the landscape. However, Welsh and Scottish field-names have an interest of their English counterparts. Almost any Welsh survey will include both Welsh and English names. Whilst Scottish field-names may be in Gaelic, in Scots or in Southern English. Old historic maps and Tithe Maps can be obtained from local libraries or county record office. Its worth saying that some tithe maps have been lost forever due to a numerous reason that is too meant to list on this part of the site. Statutory enclosure was a purely local affair, prompted by local landowners. Although much of the country was covered, in 1836 tithes were still payable in the majority of parishes in England and Wales. Scotland and Ireland have a different history: the Acts cited in this research guide did not apply there. In 1836, the government decided to commute tithes (i.e. to substitute money payments for payments in kind) throughout the country. The Bill received Royal Assent on 13 August 1836; three Tithe Commissioners were appointed, and the process of commutation began. Although the Tithe Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will IV, c.71) is a long and complicated piece of legislation, the underlying principle was the simple one of substituting for the payment of tithes in kind corn rents of the same sort as were already payable in many parishes under the authority of a local Enclosure Act. These new corn rents, known as tithe rentcharges, were not subject to local variation, but varied according to the price of corn calculated on a septennial average for the whole country. Existing corn rents were left unaffected: they continued to be paid according to the varied provisions of the local Acts which created them. Lets have a look at a picture of a Tithe map.
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Map Collection and Information |
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Scotland |
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Ireland Public Record Office |
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Collect Britain |
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Bodleian Library |
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Ordnance Survey Ireland |
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Tithe Maps Of Wales |
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The
early maps date from the 16th century, and sometimes much harder
to find whilst, others are very easily found. Maps from the sixteenth
century tend to show properties. They are not always to scale but
may provide visual aspects such as illustrations of specific buildings.
In the seventeenth century routes maps became common such as, Ogilv’s
Road Book, which is a series of linear strips. Maps were also produced
to show the proposed routes of turnpikes, canals and railways in
order to gain permission from parliament for building to take place.
The
modern town maps are also informative because many of the streets
are likely to follow routes that date right back to original settlements.
However, maps should be treated with care when studying them because
there accuracy varies a great deal and scale measurements are not
always correct. Two more maps are worth considering. These are estate
maps, some do date back to the sixteenth century and the Tithe map
dating to 1836, and caused an in depth study of rule England showing
both land ownership, occupation, tenancy. These maps should not
be overlooked as they will provide a detail layout of field names
and can give clues to the past. 