MAKE THIS THE WEEK YOU . . .
LEARN YOUR HOME’S HISTORY
DIVE INTO ARCHIVES
IF YOU enjoyed the BBC TV series A House Through Time, which revealed the history of one home from when it was built to the present day, you might be surprised to learn you can easily do the same with your own property.
Start by searching census records to find out who lived at your address in decades and centuries past. You can look free of charge on freecen.org.uk or, for more detail, try
ancestry. co. uk or find mypast.co.uk.
VISIT THE LIBRARY
YOUR local archive may be even more useful in providing documents and tailored advice. Visit gov. uk/search-local-archives
GO MAD FOR MAPS
TO SET your home in context, investigate your neighbourhood. If you haven’t been able to find out when your home was built, Ordnance Survey maps could help, as they often reveal how an area was developed over time. For these, try your local library or records office.
GET BIRD’S EYE VIEW
IF YOU’RE lucky, you can also find historic aerial photos of your home. Britain From Above features images from the Aerofilms collection, an archive of almost 100,000 images dating back to 1919. Visit: britainfromabove.org.uk.