Hello and can you help me date my house?

[Sahara]

Hi everyone, I'm new here so please be gentle with me to begin with. I am new to owning an old house and am trying to learn the tricks of the trade but I do not actually know how old my house is which would be a useful place to start.

All I know so far is that the estate agents claimed it was built in the early 1800's (whether this means early in the 1800-1810 period or the 1800-1850 period I am unclear). I have a photo of it now and a photo of it that I have found which was taken shortly before WW1 (in this one my house is the one in the middle, the one closest to the camera is no longer standing).

It is clearer to see in the up to date photo that the brickwork on the building seems to be of two different bricks, in my opinion the brick on the right side of the house up to the right of the door appears older than the brick on the rest of the house.

Is anyone able to help point me in the correct direction?

 

[Penners]

Have you tried finding old maps on the internet, and seeing whether your house appears on them? Here'sone site.

I confess that's a fairly crude system, because all you will know is whether or not your house existed at the time the map was made. But it's quite an interesting exercise.

Is the house listed? If so, the then the Images of England website should be able to help, too.

 

[Nemesis]

A quick trip to your local Records Office/ County Archives should help also.

The staff are hugely well informed and should start you searching in the right direction.

Is there a local history group? Vast expertise resides there too.

 

[chuckey]

Your house is very similar to my brothers one, built 1840 near Sudbury (Suffolk)
Frank

 

[bower1]

You are really looking for a map which the house is NOT on! As you will be able to tell the house has been built after that date. Otherwise it could be a replacement for a house/houses already there.

The tithe maps are very good, should be in you local records office as Nemesis suggests. I think they are from around 1840. They will tell you who owned the land and what it was being used for.

I haven't found any accurate maps (with houses marked) earlier than this. Has anyone else?

Another method is to try the old census records for the parish, but house names/numbers are not always written down, or may have changed. It takes quite a bit of hunting! They are available 1841 to 1901. Free 14 trial at http://www.ancestry.co.uk

 

[stickybeak]

.

 

[Johneds]

The building style from the early part of the 19thC (1800 to 1840) was very decorative. I would expect to see rendering and some Regency influence somewhere.

After 1840 styles became very plain. Thousands of functional plain brick houses with simple brick arched windows were built around this period. Small terraces and semi detached houses also started to appear.

After about 1860 what we now call Victorian style started to creep in. Decorative fascias, bay windows, window and door pediments, etc.

So I would put your house firmly between 1840 and 1860. If I as having a punt I would go for within a couple of years of 1845.

 

[Nemesis]

'I haven't found any accurate maps (with houses marked) earlier than this. Has anyone else?'

My house is built on land which formed part of an ancient manor.

Manorial records can prove very useful. In my own village I have found records, plans and dates for rebuilding of older houses in order that they could be 'improved' in the 19th century by the Lord of the Manor, who in some cases purchased them in order to demolish and rebuild. Along with this I have found letters from a former occupant of this house, as he acted as local agent for trhe Lord of the Manor.

One fascinating find was correspondence regarding another house in the village, which, when being rebuilt, the occupier wished the fuel shed and privy to be swapped around from the original plans, in order that the privy was not adjacent to the road (a small track) 'for greater privacy'. It's still there, fuel shed at the roadside, privy on the garden side.

I have so far ( I need some further research) dated my own house as being NOT on the Inclosure Award map of 1783, although the plot of land on which it stands was already inclosed and for reasons I have yet to clarify, although I think I can make a reasonable guess, did not form part of the surrounding commons inclosures. The Inclosure Award however clarified that our adacent small plot was part of that, later purchased by the owners of this house when they additionally gained the freehold (previously copyhold) from the Lord of the Manor, following various 19th century acts of enfranchisement which allowed this to happen. Knowledge of architectural history and vernacular buildings has helped also, and I think it's certainly been built not long after the Inclosure Act, somewhere at the end of the 18th century for the core part of the house.

The Inclosure Award in itself was an interesting find, as it was not catalogued as being in the archives and was in with a bundle of other papers which I looked at.

I am fortunate that I have a reasonable set of deeds and attested copies of deeds, although early ones are missing as there was some splitting of land and houses and I think the originals went along with those. Nevertheless there is enough there to aid further investigation into both the house, its former occupants and the wider history of the area.

So the house wasn't on the 1783 map, although there are others in the manor which are. Many of these are now rebuilt, although a handful of 17th century (and earlier) buildings remain.

However, a very chance find in the Records Office (someone else was looking at it!) was a long watercolour plan for the building of the railway which runs nearby - dated 1828. Houses for approx 100 yards each side of the track are noted (just as tiny blocks) and there it is - the first record on a map I have so far found.

From then on it is on the Tithe Map, and OS maps. The latter have enabled me to date extensions and outbuildings with some resaonable accuracy. The 1910 Finance Act maps have been useful too for other reasons.

However, I'm fortunate in that I have a considerable background in history and research so I have some idea of what I'm doing, and when in doubt have architectural historians I can ask, but it is amazing what you can find in county records offices and archives with some time spent there, and the staff are very knowledgeable about the records they have and how useful various types are.

 

[bower1]

Sorry Sahara if this is hijacking your thread slightly, but I'm interesting in the Inclosure Award map that Nemesis has mentioned.

Do you know if this is something which was generally done (the mapping I mean), or only by the more scrupulous landowners? I'm trying to think back to my O'level History! When I asked at the local record office they didn't think they had anything pre-1840.

I own a narrow strip of land over the road from my house which I originally thought was a wartime strip of land, but it's there on the 1840 maps, so looks like it had something to do with Inclosure. It used to have a house on it in 1840 but that was gone by 1880.

 

[stickybeak]

Not sure exactly what you'd like to know, Bower1 but perhaps the location of an Enclosure/Inclosure Map for the area in question. Try going here: http://hds.essex.ac.uk/em/index.html

(If the link doesn't show, try Googling '"Enclosure Maps" Essex'. It's an index drawn up by boffins at Essex University listing known Enc awards and maps.)

Secondly, Inclosure required an Act of Parliament; these are kept at the House of Lords and I believe (although I haven't yet tried this yet myself) you can ring up and ask to see the Act and any accompanying maps by appointment.

happy hunting

 

[Nemesis]

Most inclosures of common land came with a map and an award, giving further details. Many of these were in the early years by private Act of Parliament, and then land was divided up locally. There had to be a map or no-one would know who got what!

However, very early ones may have no records which can be traced, or easily traced. See the link for more info.

It's a vast topic though! If you give the local Records Office another ring they should be able to tell you if your area map etc is there. Land may have been part of a 19th century allotment either, for fuel and food...

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/Leaflets/ri2193.htm

No I have never really got to grips with Inclosure v Enclosure - ours is certainly labelled the Inclosure of the common!

I add - many local authorities have details online of what they have re Inclosure Awards (or enclosure...) try a google. You may be lucky. My own county has a comprehensive list, and others have useful information.

Here's an example:
http://www.berkshirenclosure.org.uk/research_ifyouwant.asp

 

[bower1]

Thanks for the links. Looks like I've got some reading to do!

 

[Nemesis]

Of course, some land was built on/ enclosed without any formal agreement... waste land of a manor for example.

 

[Sahara]

Oh my word! Thank you so much everyone for your replies! There's a lot for me to get through so I think it will take me some time to follow these all up and find the information.

The one thing I have been able to check is the Tithe Map from 1840 as I managed to find one online. It may be a big assumption to make, but there is a building there that looks just like the shape the house would have been when originally built (it doesn't now though due to some more modern extensions). However, I think it is fairly safe to assume that it was here in 1840.

I shall begin following up all the other ideas on here and if I manage to narrow it down to a more exact date I shall make sure I put it on this post.

Thank you again for such informative posts and all your advice.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Thanks for the links. Looks like I've got some reading to do!

A couple more to add to your booklist:

http://www.countrysidebooks.co.uk/book-catalogue-book-details.php?book=52

http://www.countrysidebooks.co.uk/book-catalogue-book-details.php?book=50