Ordnance Survey – Great Britain's national mapping agency

Use old maps to trace your history

20 November 2007

People have been urged to trace the history of their homes by using old maps this week.

National newspaper The Times® has said that thanks to services provided by organisations such as Ordnance Survey, which has been mapping Britain [at large scale] regularly since 1854, tracing the history of a house is a relatively simple process.

The paper advises that those interested should start by examining the title deeds of their home, which may document past transactions.

A record of the history of most properties will be held at the Land Registry® and can be obtained on request, although this will only be the case if a property has changed hands since compulsory registration was introduced in 1899 in London and completed in 1990 for the remainder of England and Wales.

By looking at old maps, either in hard copy or online, owners can discover what used to lay where their homes do now and what surrounded the area decades ago.

Keen ramblers could use the old map to take a walk around the area, retracing the footsteps of their ancestors.

Land Registry is a registered trademark of HM Land Registry. The Times is a registered trademark of Times Newspapers Ltd.

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