Tracing the history of your house

A guide to researching the history of a house, old or new.

It should enable individuals to construct a history of their own house, a childhood home, or another property, and describes the many sources of information available to the house detective.

The three great land surveys carried out during the 19th and early-20th centuries which produced maps and inventories enable the researcher to build up a picture of his own individual property, while the records of the Land Registry and conveyancing documents provide a wealth of additional information.For the more advanced researcher, taxation and manorial documents provide records of properties dating back to the mediaeval period.

More modern dwellings can be studied by consulting building plans, local directories, electoral lists and rate books.