How to compile a complete building history.

[charlie-ia]

The first thing the properly briefed architect will do (firstly because it's sound practice and secondly because it is - or should be- required for any Listed Building Consent (LBC) application) is to compile a complete building history. This is what I do for a living. If you do some of this work yourself - PM me and I can give you a brief tutorial on how- you may save some of the architect's costs in producing the building history, and you will also develop an even greater affinity with your cottage once you know how it's developed over the years.

One such has been a pet project of mine for the past 6 years and I would say I have probably, in all, spent five or six weeks in total - and about £1000- getting all the information available anywhere. This is a luxury most owners cannot afford. Interested personal owner/occupiers, like Lindyboo, might like to take on the detective work as a long-term project, just for the sake of it.

This is what I do for a living. If you do some of this work yourself - PM me and I can give you a brief tutorial on how-

cant you share with everybody? maybe just a few crumbs? I wouldnt want you to starve! oh go on,go on, go on now ted

i love maps, so we're already onto that, and asking the neighbours of course. Our house is in ireland, so IOE doesnt help, and ive not found an irish equivalent yet. Griffiths valuation is very interesting.
http://www.ireland.com/ancestor/browse/records/land/grva.htm

Babs, do you know anything that would help? I believe your house has leprechauns too

 

[Nemesis]

Have you looked at the deeds?

Is the house actually legally protected in any way? I appreciate it isn't listed. IoE is only for listed buildings in England (and not all listed buildings at that).

 

[charlie-ia]

we havent seen the deeds yet as we're still stuck in limbo with the solicitor. the money is paid, weve signed our contract and are still waiting for them to send their contract back. theres no arguing going on, just nothing happening.
thats whay im sitting here bothering you lot rather than doing it!

the estate agent happily gave us the keys for a week, so weve managed to have a good poke about, and clear the earth round the walls. this was really easy because of the cobbles we found underneath. (and we can say we were just looking!)
It actually turned out well, because we had to restrain ourselves rather than getting stuck in. a week is a long time not to touch anything, so we just looked and thought insted.

and then we had to give the keys back cos its not technically ours yet.

 

[Nemesis]

Deeds are a good start - ask about seeing them, or ask what is happening to them.

 

[stickybeak]

.

 

[Nemesis]

It took us a while to track down all our deeds for this current house - they were sitting in a vault belonging to a solicitor who had conveyed the property in the past.

As we were the first to register with the Land Registry there is little on file there, beyond very basic stuff, but the deeds and associated accompanying documents bundle have provided a wealth of information and research starting points which would have been difficult to get from other sources.

However, many people have 'lost' old deeds as when registration occurs they are no longer required and some have been destroyed.

Which is why I'd make enquiries asap.

Even the Land Registry was known to destroy them in the early days of registration - which made proof of access rights a very difficult issue when the access over common land debacle was at its height, but that's another issue entirely!

This could prove useful:

http://www.irelandlandregistry.co.uk/

However, you should get sight of certain documents along with the purchase so I wouldn't rush to part with cash until you know what's available.

I wouldn't rush to rip everything out and chuck it in a skip either - you might regret it.

 

[charlie-ia]

Im not one for putting things in skips. taking things out i freely admit to! bit of a hoarder, so neither you or the house need to worry.

found the irish land registry page, but couldnt get it to work, so thanks for that link.

our house doesnt appear to have an official name, other than the name of the family that owned it years ago. we need to talk to more neighbours. it certainly doesnt have a number, Postcodes are being introduced in 2008 and we dont think the road has a name (it must be called something by the locals)
The solicitor told us to ask the postman if he knew. . Not an easy start to looking up documents!

We are doing ok with maps, we have discovered what we thought was the garden wall, is the wall of a barn. we removed some plastic rubbish from the garden and found the flagstone barn floor underneath! so far we've only peeked, but if you superimpose the old maps on google earth, you can see dry brown patches in the grass, in several fields round about, that correspond with lost buildings! i really hope the whole floor is still there, it certainly looks promising.

Is the house actually legally protected in any way?

how do you mean legally protected? the solicitor has told us everything is straightforward.

 

[Nemesis]

It isn't listed, and presumably it isn't situated in something like our National Parks - which gives some protection regarding what can be done.

 

[charlie-ia]

not listed, not in a national park, not visible from the "viewing area" though very close, there was some hooha about new pylons being visible in the view recently so there may be something relevant to us there. that would be the planning department we need to talk to?(i thought we wernt supposed to talk to them?)

 

[Nemesis]

Why not? Get them on board...

You might find this site of use:

http://ireland.archiseek.com/

and:

http://www.iarc.ie/

 

[charlie-ia]

http://www.oldhousejournal.com/notebook/npsbriefs/brief35.shtml

 

[Nemesis]

Sadly. the reality in the UK is frequently rather different.

I have a friend who is the SOLE Historic Built Environment Consultant for a major, major international firm. There is a small team of archaeologists too. The reality of the time given for investigation and assessment is that it is very short indeed.

If what you want is a house history, there are several useful books and websites.

I undertake a considerable amount of historic building and site research myself and often that is under pressure. And it's no better at EH...

And at times it can mean the difference between a historic building being destroyed and not. I'm currently involved in a situation which has been ongoing for several years and where millions are at stake. Quite interesting if fraught...

 

[Peter]

I've just traced my ancestors house back to 1621 and the breakthrough came by talking to the nearest town's local historian. He had access to copies of documents (old estate maps) that although they were in the copunty archives they were not for public view and their existence not advertised. The maps even had a sketch of the house.

Just ask everyone who you can think of locally - it will surprise you what some people know!

 

[Nemesis]

Totally agree - so much is a jigsaw puzzle, but local sources are valuable. The bundle of deeds and documents for my own house research - while it meant a great deal of other research had to be carried out (manorial rights etc) there was a large amount unlocked via those regarding my village.

Going off at tangents in the archives sometimes can be rewarding too.

 

[Nemesis]

Could be useful:

http://www.originsnetwork.com/help/resarchives-io.htm