This chapter looks at:

• other types of documents which can tell you about a property, such as sales particulars, newspaper advertisements, deposited plans, building control plans and planning applications
• and sources for buildings such as former schools, pubs and tollhouses.

SALES PARTICULARS

Sales particulars vary in the level of details they give. At the very least they will tell you where and when the sale of properties took place, right down to the time of day. The detailed particulars might include plans, any conditions for sale and details of the properties involved. If you have access to the deeds, it’s worth cross-referencing the sale particulars to the deeds – you may be able to confirm details of the property that aren’t shown in the deeds.

One of the properties in the sale referred to in the particulars below was Mill House. It was part of a sale which included ‘three capital shops with dwelling houses in the main street, eight dwelling houses & villa residences, two public houses, four eligible buildings sites, two enclosures of Accommodation Arable and Pasture Land, fifty-seven cottages,

all situate in Attleborough’ as well as 13 cottages in neighbouring villages. These were sold in 30 lots through the auctioneers Salter, Simpson and Sons.

The other photocopy from those particulars shows a detailed map of the lots involved (part of which was copied over to an indenture – see picture 8.1 on page 115). Sadly, the other side of the plan refers only to the first three lots (and Mill House was lot five). The detail is minute, though, and invaluable to the house historian. For example, the particulars for lot one are:

NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS

Sales particulars such as those above might also be listed in newspapers, and again it’s worth cross-referring to the deeds. Sometimes even more detail is given; or you may find a reference to the property that dates from before the deeds you’ve already seen. During my researches I was lucky enough to come across a really choice find in the Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette, dated 21 July 1804, reproduced below with original punctuation:

The advertisement was repeated in the Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette on 4 August, this time with the additional detail that the sale would be by William Parson ‘On Thursday the 9th of August, at four o’clock, at the Bear, in Attleburgh, Norfolk’.

I had thought that the house dated from the mid 1820s, so I was surprised to discover it was older than it looked. It was also interesting to see such full details of the mill and the cottage – we’d had no idea about presence of the piggeries and granary – and it confirmed my suspicion that the original roof was entirely tile rather than tile and slate.

DEPOSITED PLANS

From 1792 if you wanted to build a canal, turnpike, railway or dock, you had to deposit plans with the clerk of the peace as part of your building application. These are usually found in local record offices. They tend to be plans of public undertakings such as railways, but will often give details of who owned and occupied the land in the immediate vicinity of the railway, turnpike or other scheme.

The plans tend to be ‘strip maps’ – that is, a map of the strip of land. There is sometimes a book of reference that goes with the map, showing details of the land adjacent to the planned scheme. The details may include the size of the land in acres, roods and perches, who owned it, who occupied it and how the land was used, e.g. pasture, orchard, common land.

The amount of detail given in deposited plans really varies. Those for the railways tend to be very detailed, though it’s worth noting that often the plans submitted by railway companies were never actually carried out.

BUILDING CONTROL PLANS

Before 1948 plans for new buildings or alterations to existing buildings had to be submitted to the local borough and district council for building control. The plans usually show a site map, plus elevations and sections of the building. They are available in local council planning archives or record offices. However, the survival of the plans can be patchy.

PRIVATE ESTATE MAPS

Between the end of the sixteenth century and the middle of the nineteenth century, estates produced maps of the property with a ‘terrier’ (or book) listing tenants and holdings. The terriers may mention the owners of adjoining properties, and may describe the acreage of the land and what it was used for. It may also detail property on the land (such as barns and cottages), woods, roads, paths and water. You may also find rent rolls – schedules listing tenants, rents paid/due, description of land and buildings. Maps may contain drawings such as of churches and manor houses.

Some maps are available at local record offices. However, they haven’t survived for all parishes and if they haven’t been deposited at the record office they may still be in private hands.

SPECIALIST BUILDINGS

Former pubs

If your house was a former public house you may find more information about former occupiers (the licensees) and pub names in the registers of licensed victuallers.

Taverns and inns had to be licensed. JPs issued licenses, often with a bond of surety (sometimes called recognizances) for the orderly keeping of the house and these licenses were kept in registers of licensed victuallers. The records should tell you:

• the name of the licensee;
• the parish in which the pub was situated;
• the name of the person standing surety;
• the name of the alehouse, tavern or inn.

Licensing legislation changed between 1828 and 1869 so records and registers didn’t have to be kept. A new licensing system was brought in from 1869 and registers of licenses were kept from 1872.

These registers are usually held in local record offices and you’ll find them among the Quarter Sessions Records (often referred to as Q/RLV, i.e. Quarter sessions Register of Licensed Victuallers). Some family history societies publish licensing records. You may also find websites covering pubs in your area. For example, the Norfolk Pubs website www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/ gives details of pubs in Norfolk, including:

• the name of the pub;
• the type of license (e.g. beerhouse);
• the address and the Hundred division in which it was situated;
• which brewery owned the pub;
• licensees with dates;
• if the pub is now closed, when it closed;
• photographs (in some cases);
• miscellaneous information (for example if it was a stopping point for coaches; details of sales particulars).

You also have a much better chance of finding information about the building and the landlord/landlady in the street directories. See Chapter 3 for further details about using street directories.

There’s also likely to be information about the pub in local newspapers. There may be information about licensing – for example, if the license was refused the reasons are likely to be reported by the local press.

Another possible source of help is the Pub History Society: www.pub-historysociety.co.uk.

Former vicarages, churches and chapels

If your house was a former vicarage, rectory, church or chapel, you may find more information about the building among the parish records, which are likely to be deposited in the local record office. You may find a plan of the building, or information about the building in the glebe terriers, which will give at least a description of the property.

Former schools

If your house was a former school or a schoolmaster’s cottage you may find more information about the building among the school records. These could include deeds, plans and log books. If the school has closed the records may be deposited in the local record office. If the school has moved the head teacher or local education authority may be able to help you with more information.

You may find details of the school in street directories. For example, White’s Norfolk Directory (1845) refers to the National School in Attleborough, ‘built in 1841, at the cost of £700, and attended by about 70 boys and 80 girls’. Smaller schools in larger towns or cities may have even more detail.

If you can pin down the date when the school was built or opened, or you know of any major events such as epidemics, royal visits, floods or fires, you may be able to find reports about them in the local newspapers.

Former hospitals

If your house was a former hospital you may find more information about the building among the hospital records. If the hospital has closed the records may be deposited in the local record office. If the hospital has moved the press office at the hospital may be able to point you in the right direction.

Again, you may find details of the hospitals in the street directories, including when it was built, how much the building cost, its funding including the names of any benefactors, how many patients and surgeons there were, and the officers of the charity – president, treasurer, physicians, surgeons, secretary, apothecary and matron.

As with schools, if you can pin down the date when the building was built, opened or extended, or you know of any major events such as epidemics, royal visits, floods or fires, you may be able to find reports about them in the local newspapers.

Former toll houses

If your house was a former toll house you may find more information about the building, such as details of leases, or plans, among the records of the turnpike trusts. Turnpike trusts had to produce annual accounts and enrol them in the Quarter Sessions. Both sets of records are kept in local record offices.

Former almshouses

If your house was a former almshouse you may find more information about the building among the reports of the charity commissioners, which are kept in local record offices.

Other institutions

If your house was built for an institution, for example a workhouse, you may find more information about the building among the institution’s records. If the institution has closed the records may be deposited in the local record office. If it has moved to another building it’s worth contacting the institution to see if they’re able help you with more information.

Again, you may find details of a workhouse or institution and the name of its master or head in street directories. If it’s in a major town you may find information such as:

• when it was built;
• what work the inmates did (for example, in St Andrew’s Workhouse in Norwich it was the manufacture of worsted and cotton goods);
• how many people were accommodated;
• the expenditure of the workhouse;
• when the guardians are elected;
• names of the officers (master, apothecary, cashier, clerk, reliving officer, removal officer, schoolmaster/mistress) and possibly how much their annual salaries were.

Again, if you can pin down the date when it was built or opened, or you know of any major events such as epidemics, royal visits, floods, exhibitions or fires, you may be able to find reports about them in the local newspapers.

Mills

If your house was attached to a mill you may find more information about the building in specialist archives such as the Mills Archive www.millsarchive.com. There may also be local specialist archives or organisations that may be able to help you with more information.

Again, there may be information about the mill in local newspapers. However, unless it appears in an index made by a previous researcher, you may be in for a long search and you might not find the information you’re looking for.