Basics of building history research
There are plenty of guidebooks to the architecture of Ireland and the UK. But are they accurate? Secondary sources like these interpret the evidence. Maybe they are right. Maybe they are wrong. Any good historian aims to go back to primary sources (documents, drawings, photographs) and make a fresh evaluation. For a building historian that includes investigating the building at first hand. Looking at similar buildings that are well-understood and intelligently displayed can help educate the eyes.
Starting points
A university library is
good first port of call; it should hold useful reference books,
including gazetteers
and official inventories,
and
scholarly journals which will give leads to other sources. Listed building descriptions
for England, Northern Ireland and Scotland can be read online. Any
historic building open to the public is likely to have at least a brief
history online; see Historic
Buildings to Visit.
Visual aids
To dig deeper, search first for a series of local maps. That may give a rough date (between two maps), or show any alterations to the building's footprint and changes of name. If you find that, say, Twelvetrees Grange was once called Blackbottom Farm, it helps the search for images and documents. Start with OS maps, which show in which parish the building lies, if you are unsure. Then you can search for any earlier maps of the parish, as well as parish history. Maps and collections of photographs and prints can be found in archives, museums, galleries and local studies sections of public libraries. Some image collections can now be searched online and there are other online image indexes.
Local sources in print
The local library should also have town, parish or country histories, which can be tracked down through bibliographies of local history.
Local directories could tell you who lived in a house, or ran an inn, or whether the parish church had a major Victorian restoration. The Guildhall Library holds directories for the whole of the British Isles. The National Library of Ireland has extensive holdings of countrywide trade and social directories. An increasing number of directories for England and Wales can be read online at the Digital Library of Historical Directories [requires Internet Explorer for full functionality]. A number for Ireland are online at Fáilte Romhat and Library Ireland.
- Atkins, P.J., The Directories of London, 1677-1977 (1990).
- Norton, J.E., Guide to the National and Provincial Directories of England and Wales, Excluding London, Published before 1856. (Royal Historical Society, 1984.)
- Shaw, G., and Tipper, A., British Directories: A bibliography and guide to directories published in England and Wales (1850-1950) and Scotland (1773-1950). 2nd ed. (1997).
Local newspapers often carried advertisements for property for sale or to let, but this wealth of material is inaccessible unless there is an index. See local libraries for details of some newspaper indexes and archives, particularly those online.
The Gentleman's Magazine (1731-) carried a wealth of topographical information sent in by contributers; its earliest issues can be read online. The topographical content 1731-1868 was helpfully arranged by county in a series of volumes edited in the 1890s by G.L.Gomme as The Gentleman's Magazine Library. The contents for Derbyshire and part of Devon are online.
Reading manuscripts
To get the full story, you will need to delve
into documents. Primary documents are often termed records and kept in
a record
office. Much that is relevant to building history, like deeds, surveys, building accounts
and probate inventories,
must be read in manuscript. Given time, practice and frequent resort to
handwriting guides and
dictionaries, any intelligent person could eventually
transcribe a medieval document. Even so they could find it difficult to
understand. Anyone just starting in research would be well advised to
cut their teeth on Georgian and later buildings.
Shortcuts
Some useful records for earlier buildings have been published in calendar (résumé). Material from the National Archives and its Irish sisters the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and National Archives of Ireland is calendared in a number of series. The Historical Manuscripts Commission and the Irish Manuscripts Commission have published series of calendars of private papers. National societies specialize in particular types of record, (for example the British Record Society focuses on wills and inquisitions post mortem), while local record societies concentrate on those of their county or city. Most of these series are listed in Mullins, Texts and Calendars, Stevenson, Scottish Texts and Calendars or the Irish Manuscripts Commission catalogue, and The Royal Historical Society provides an online guide to serial record publications. Other primary sources useful for building history have been published independently.
Historical and architectural context
The Uniting of the Kingdoms by the National Archives gives an entertaining overview of the history of these islands. The ebb and flow of power partly explains why you may find documents in England on a Irish, Welsh or Scottish building. We need an even wider perspective when looking at architectural influences, which have flowed into the British Isles from the Continent, and even further afield if we consider the origins of Christian symbols and the church plan. A general study of the type and/or period of the building you are researching will help fit it into the wider picture. Is it typical of its type or is it a rarity? What was the thinking behind it? See the style and building type sections of this site.
Writing up your findings
Share your discoveries! Whether you are researching for an academic essay, a professional report or just for fun, don't forget that others may be interested. A scholarly document will save your research for posterity. Here's how to do it. Then spread the word through:
- publication in a national or local journal or
- donating copies of a desktop report to the relevant local library and the national building record centre for Eire, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales
- electronic publication - create a web-site.