Age of my property

[LisaMay]

Hello everyone,

Have been lurking here for a while and finally worked up enough courage to post!

I own a property in West Wales and have done for almost 10 years now. My late partner and I bought it together. We lived in a caravan on our land for a while, hoping to get the funds together to make our house liveable. Sadly, my partner passed away very unexpectedly and I now own the house myself.

When we bought it, it was advertised with the estate agent as being built c1800. My question is, (and this may sound daft) how close to 1800 can I assume it was built? I have looked on old maps, and it was definitely here in 1890 - before that, I have no idea, and I'm unsure as to how to go about finding out more of its history - if anybody has any ideas on that I'd be most grateful.

I hoped to be able to post a photo tonight, but unfortunately photobucket is not working for me, so I'll try to find another hosting site and post a picture as soon as I can.

Many thanks
Lisa

 

[LisaMay]

Hopefully a picture of my house, albeit a very bad one. I think, originally it was a two up two down building, but somebody, at some point has put lots of strange 'pretend' walls here and there.
One thing I have found, since putting more time and effort into the house, is a lovely (what I believe to be) quarry tile floor in the living room. It's black and red. I'm not sure, once again, how old that is. It's taken a lot of cleaning, as it was covered with bitumen (I think) and a few layers of lino and rotten carpet.
Not much fun getting all that off, but well worth it in the end.

 

[Penners]

Hello LisaMay and welcome to the forum. Why did it take courage to make your first post? New members are always very welcome here!

Tracing the age of a house can sometimes involve a fair bit of research. The ease or difficulty of the job will depend on how well-kept the local records are, and sometimes the significance of the house.

I don't know where in the country you are (and it's worth including this information in your profile - just the county if you don't want to be more specific). But as an example of how and where to find local records, here's a link to one county's guidance on the subject:

http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/How+to+trace+the+history+of+your+house?opendocument

 

[Moo]

Why did it take courage to make your first post?

I was wondering that, too.

 

[Moo]

I don't know where in the country you are

Penners, I think you should have stayed in bed a bit longer this morning. Lisa May's second sentence began with the words "I own a property in West Wales".


Mind you, I do agree with you about including that information in her profile, for future reference.

 

[Penners]

Oh dear, sorry LisaMay.

You're right, Moo. I was somewhat insomniac last night, so my brain wasn't exactly honed to its usual razor-sharpness. :roll:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Welcome LisaMay - you're already a winner with many of us. You've posted and included a picture!!! 8)

Census returns are a good way to trace house history, but can be a little indirect. I've managed to get back to 1841 with mine. Also being in Wales can be tricky as many records can be yn y Gymraeg. Sadly my Welsh is very firmly in the beginners category.

Old maps are useful and you can see old ones on the Ordnance Survey website or just search for old maps on Google.

You could try the local history group.

Also get the deeds from the mortgage company - if they haven't destroyed them already.

Good luck!

 

[JohnB]

A few probably totally unhelpful ramblings about another West Wales house! I've got copies of some of the deeds for my place, but no old documents. The earliest reference I have is to an annuity dated 20th May 1858, that is on a list of annuities on a form headed Law of Property (Amendment ) Act, 1926. I've got no idea what the annuity is about. I also know that my village didn't exist until the mid 19th century, but that doesn't mean individual houses didn't. It's also listed in the 1891 census, as one house, but it seems to have been built as two houses! The local history society, Hanes Emlyn, in Newcastle Emlyn don't have anything on it. I've been told that the place to try is the records office in Carmarthen, but haven't done this yet. The house is on local information boards showing sites related to the woollen industry, where it's marked as having had a hand loom workshop (a loom in a room in the house I think), but these boards have no contact details to find out more!

I think what I'm saying is good luck trying to find definitive information, and if you manage it, let me know how you did it .

 

[citizensmith]

Go to your records office and ask for the Tithe Map of 1840. Its about the first really detailed national mapping exercise. You will at least be able to see if sometyhing is tanding where your house is now and if the footprint is the same. Is it in Pembs? Beautiful part of the world, amonst the best coastal scenery the UK has to offer.

 

[MatthewC]

I was somewhat insomniac last night, so my brain wasn't exactly honed to its usual razor-sharpness. :roll:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Lisa May - if you've been lurking for a while you will probably have noticed that Penners is often prone to a bit of understatement (not to mention some naughty innuendo at times!).

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I was somewhat insomniac last night, so my brain wasn't exactly honed to its usual razor-sharpness. :roll:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Lisa May - if you've been lurking for a while you will probably have noticed that Penners is often prone to a bit of understatement (not to mention some naughty innuendo at times!).

He can also be prone to a little obfuscatory sesquipedalianism.

The above sentence is more generally translated as "I'm hungover".

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I was somewhat insomniac last night, so my brain wasn't exactly honed to its usual razor-sharpness. :roll:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Lisa May - if you've been lurking for a while you will probably have noticed that Penners is often prone to a bit of understatement (not to mention some naughty innuendo at times!).

He can also be prone to a little casual obfuscatory sesquipedalianism.

The above sentence is more generally translated as "I'm hungover".

 

[Penners]

You apparently regarded your foul slur as so impressive that you posted twice, FW.

I shall get you at playtime.

 

[biffvernon]

The roof looks early 21st century. A neat job.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Penners, with the the constant and debilitating agony from your back, I think we can all forgive you being a little alabandical in the mornings.

 

[middi]

......." obfuscatory sequipedalianism"......

OHhh... Penners, that sounds like a fragrant, exotic orchid name from Madagascar.

What a compliment !!!!!!!

I am so glad that a translation was given, " hangover". So clear.

(I thought I had one without drinking)

Middi

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Ah - "hangover" was the translation of his earlier sentence.

"Obfusc...sesquip..." tanslates as "he uses confusing long words"!

 

[middi]

AHhh...Latin. ( I was forced to learn it for a couple of years. I told my teacher that he needed a bigger sledge hammer :wink: )

Middi

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I did a couple of years of latin too - waste of time, as I can't speak a word of it now. :wink:

 

[Flyfisher]

You clearly need a bit of enforced latin practice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAdHEwiAy8


Still, given the limited use of latin these days, it makes one wonder what the Romans ever did for us . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso