Researching your House History

Cilgant Maesderwen, Pontypool (2010).
DS2010_286_001 NPRN 410898

House History

The National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW) holds a wealth of information relating to domestic properties, which can help provide historical and contemporary context to the history of your house. Our collections encompass reports, surveys, maps, drawings, photographs, and aerial photographs, relating to all aspects of the built environment. We are also home to a specialist library, with many varied publications relating to the history of buildings across Wales.

If your house was formerly a chapel, a school, a pub, a mill, a lighthouse, or a commercial or industrial property, we may well have material relating to it in our collections.

Back Row, Onllyn: two-storey workers cottages, now demolished.
DI2008_1332 NPRN 407800

Collections

• Drawings, architectural plans, site surveys and highquality reconstruction drawings are an excellent resource for architectural detail.
• Images (photographs and postcards) can provide a wealth of background, contextual, and sometimes distinctly individual, information on the history of your property. Our collections hold both interior and exterior photographs showing how these properties have changed over the decades.
• Use our large collection of Ordnance Survey maps to locate buildings, ascertain land and fi eld boundaries and see how these may have altered over time.
• The collections of Estate Plans and Sales Particulars can provide fascinating building descriptions and information on associated land holdings and usage.
• Aerial photographs can be used to locate your property within its wider context. We hold large collections of aerial photographs, ranging in date from 1918 to the present day. Check to see if your house is covered.

Plan and elevation of Acorn Cottage, The Close, Llanfairfechan.
DI2010_1096 NPRN 96649

The NMRW also holds descriptive accounts of individual
properties, including:

• Survey reports
• Historical accounts
• Newspaper cuttings
• Notes
• Watching briefs
• Cadw Listed Buildings

Our small but extensive collection of specialist library books, journals, and pamphlets can also help to provide contextual and specifi c architectural, historical, economic and social details. The historic county inventories published by RCAHMW can be a useful starting point. Other, more specifi c publications include those on farmhouses, cottages, chapels, mills, and industrial properties.

Landscape view of Sawmill Cottage, Garthmyl Canal Settlement, Berriew.
DI2006_1042 NPRN 400741

Services

Use COFLEIN, our online database, to search for sites of interest, check our catalogued collections, and view images from across Wales – www.coflein.gov.uk

Visit our library and search room to view books and original archive material from the NMRW. We are open Monday – Friday 09.30 – 16.00, Wednesday 10.30 – 16.30.
An appointment is advisable.

View of sixteenth century roof timbers at Cefn-caer, Pennal.
DI2006_0988 NPRN 28277

For further information, please contact our friendly and professional staff at:
NMRW Library and Enquiries Service
RCAHMW
Crown Building, Plas Crug, Aberystwyth
Ceredigion, SY23 1NJ

Telephone: +44 (0)1970 621200
E-mail: nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk
Website: www.rcahmw.gov.uk
Coflein: www.coflein.gov.uk
Blog: www.heritageofwalesnews.blogspot.co.uk


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Maps at the National Monuments Record of Wales

Llanidloes area in 1887. 1st ed. OS 25’’ map, Montgomeryshire sheet XLVII.4.
DI2011_1094

Uses

Maps held in the National Monuments Record of Wales are available for consultation by researchers. In addition, Ordnance Survey 25’’-inch and 6’’-inch maps are available to view as layers on GIS.

The nineteenth century saw a dramatic growth of industry, the advent of canals and railways, huge town expansion schemes, and other significant changes to Wales’s former predominantly rural landscapes; many of these changes can be seen on maps from that time.

On a smaller scale, it is often possible to track the development of individual buildings, names of farms and settlements, locations of antiquities, and other landmarks such as wells, milestones and even trees.

You may view the catalogue and digitised collections through Coflein, our on line site database and archive catalogue – www.coflein.gov.uk or in our library and search room.

Treharris area in 1919, shown on the 2nd edition OS 25’’ map.
DI2012_0326

Ordnance Survey

• OS ‘Old Series’ 1’’ maps
Produced 1805-73. A volume containing facsimile maps of Wales from this series is available in the library.

• OS County Series 25’’ maps.
The largest scale maps ever produced commercially in the UK, published in stages with the first edition completed in 1890. The NMR holds a unique set of OS surveyors’ Welsh County Series working maps showing the published second edition underlain with information in blue from the earlier series.

• OS 6’’ maps
Reduced from the County Series, these afford a better overview of areas mapped. Provisional Edition (predating the introduction of National Grid References) and a gridded set are available.

• Modern OS maps of Wales in the Landranger and Pathfinder series

Baron Hill Estate, Anglesey estate map from sale catalogue.
C19734

Collections

• Set of OS 1:10,000 maps forming an index to NAR [National Archaeological Record] cards. The NAR cards contain details of sites and finds, including bibliographic references. They have a bias towards archaeological remains.

• Early twentieth-century estate sales catalogues. Estate sales catalogues contain maps (usually based
on the 25’’ County Series) showing boundaries of the different lots. The lots are described in detail and frequently include names of tenants.

• Maps of the Antonine Wall, Ancient Britain, Roman Britain, Roman and Medieval Bath, Georgian Bath, Viking and Medieval York, Roman and Anglian York, and others.

• Reprints of early maps, including Ogilby’s ribbon road map (1675), Blaeu’s County of Glamorgan (1645), Bowen’s maps of South Wales (1729), Speed’s plan of Cardiff (1610) and others.

• Admiralty charts
Modern maritime charts of Welsh coastal waters.

2nd Edition Ordnance Survey 6’’ map, sheet Glamorgan XXVII NE (1901) Rhondda Valley.
DI2010_1140

Services

• Free public enquiry service
• Priority search service
• Library and search room
• Image library
• Digitisation
• Digital datasets and mapping
• Group visits
• Educational resources

National Monuments Record of Wales search room.

Open: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9:30 – 16:00, Wednesday 10:30 – 16:30.
For further information, please contact our friendly and professional staff at:

NMRW Library and Enquiries Service
RCAHMW
Crown Building, Plas Crug, Aberystwyth
Ceredigion, SY23 1NJ

Telephone: +44 (0)1970 621200
E-mail: nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk
Website: www.rcahmw.gov.uk
Coflein: www.coflein.gov.uk
Blog: www.heritageofwalesnews.blogspot.co.uk

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

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One Hundred Years Ago Today…

During his first cruise in homes water, April–August 1915, Max Valentiner and U38 accounted for five trawlers, three sailing vessel and 22 merchant ships. Valentiner would go on to become the third most successful u-boat commander of the Great War (144 vessels sunk, six damaged and three taken as prizes).

… Max Valentiner, one of the ablest and most ruthless commanders in the German submarine service, brought U38 to the narrowing of the shipping lanes in St George’s Channel (between Cardigan Bay and the Tuskar Rock lighthouse, Ireland).

Over the next 24 hours, the submarine would sink 10 merchant ships and fishing vessels causing the loss of two lives.

The vessels were:

• BONNY, 2702 ton British steamship operated by the British & African Steam Navigation Co. Ltd (Elder Dempster Line);
• GEORGE BAKER, a British steam drifter owned by E. A. Baker of Great Yarmouth (NPRN 516131); http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/516131/details/UNNAMED+WRECK/
  
  
• GLENBY, 2196 ton British steamship owned by R. Ropner & Co, West Hartlepool, and carrying coal from Cardiff to Archangelsk (NPRN 274830); http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/274830/details/GLENBY/
  
  
• ISIDORO , 2044 ton Spanish-owned steamship carrying iron ore from Bilbao to Glasgow;
• KIRKBY, 3034 ton British steamship also owned by R. Ropner & Co, West Hartlepool, carrying coal from Barry (NPRN 274829); http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/274829/details/KIRKBY/
  
  
• MAGGIE, small British steamship, on passage from Youghal to Fleetwood;
• PAROS, 3596 ton British steamship requisitioned by the Admiralty and bringing wheat from Karachi to Manchester (NPRN 274828); http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/274828/details/PAROS/
  
  
• REPEAT, a British steam trawler owned by R. J. Tripp of Kessingland, Suffolk (NPRN 274831); http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/274831/details/REPEAT/
  
  
• THE QUEEN, 557 ton British steamship carrying coal from Ayr to Devonport (NPRN 274832); http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/274832/details/THE+QUEEN/
  
  
• THORNFIELD, 488 ton British steamship belonging to Liverpool and on passage from London to Peel, Isle of Man (NPRN 273139); http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/273139/details/THORNFIELD/ . 

THE QUEEN - built on the Clyde in 1897 by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company and owned by John Hay & Sons, Glagsow. The steamship was sunk by the guns of U38.

The ISIDORO was the first Spanish-owned vessel sunk by a German submarine and the loss brought protest from the Spanish government. Germany had come under strong pressure from America, after the sinking of the LUSITANIA on 7 May 1915, to modify its whole submarine campaign, with a promise that liners would not be sunk if engaged in no hostile act. The sinking of the ISIDORO alienated another neutral nation.

With the whole political situation so delicate, the German Admiralty despatched secret orders for submarines to confine themselves to ‘cruiser warfare’; i.e. submarines were to surface to search for merchant ships and ensure that crews were in a place of safety before sinking the ship, unless the ship had shown ‘persistent refusal to stop ... or active resistance to visit or search’.

However, U38 continued southwards after the 17 August, to join U24 and U27 in the Western approaches. These three submarines continued to sink ships between southern Ireland and Ushant on the French coast, bringing the total losses for the year to a peak in this month (121 ships sunk and five damaged). Each event a tragedy for the crews and shipowners concerned.

Today, we commemorate the lives lost by the sinking of the GLENBY in Welsh waters:

C. Neilson, Boatswain, age 21

Ernest Hall, Donkeyman*.

Remembering those who gave their lives for their country and who have no grave but the sea.

• http://www.peoplescollection.wales/collections/415321
• http://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/468344

*Note: the duties performed by a Donkeyman could be different on every ship, but generally they were responsible for the operation and maintenance of assorted ship’s machinery, other than the main engines, particularly smaller steam boilers and donkey engines used on deck for anchor windlasses and bilge pumps.

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National Monuments Record of Wales

Corbalengi Stone, Penbryn.
DI2008_0439 NPRN 304135

The archive of the built heritage of Wales

More than a century of surveying, recording and collecting has created a unique archive that documents the changing face of the Welsh historic landscape. It includes material on all aspects of archaeological, architectural, ecclesiastical, industrial, defensive and maritime history.
You will find records on:

• Houses
• Farm buildings
• Churches
• Chapels
• Schools
• Stone Circles
• Hillforts
• Enclosures
• Roman sites
• Castles
• Mottes
• Canals
• Railways
• Ironworks
• Coal mines
• Mills
• Lighthouses
• Factories
• Gardens
• Wrecks
• Mansions
• Cairns

... and much, much more

Connah’s Quay Power Station.
DI2005_0676 NPRN 96149

Collections

• Historic and modern photographs
• Drawings
• Historic maps
• Historic and modern aerial photographs
• Archaeological surveys and excavation archives
• Architectural reports and plans
• Digital surveys
• Reconstruction drawings
• Point cloud data from terrestrial laser scanning
• GIS – Geographical Information Systems
• Digital reconstructions – 3D models and animations
• Specialist library

Use COFLEIN, our online database, to search for sites of interest, check our catalogued collections and view images from across Wales.

View of excavation at Aberystwyth Castle.
DI2012_2005 NPRN 86

Uses

• Local and family history
• House history
• Making models
• Higher and further education
• Artistic inspiration
• Illustrating talks, publications and exhibitions
• Tourism
• Media/press
• Desk-top assessments
• Boundary identification
• Area studies for wind farms, pipelines etc
• Planning issues
• Archaeological site investigation
• Information boards

Visit our library and search room to view books, journals and original archive material from the NMRW. We are open: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 09:30 – 16:00, Wednesday 10:30 – 16:30.
An appointment is advisable.

Jesse Tree, St. Dyfnog’s Church, Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch.
DI2012_0275 NPRN 165239

Services

• Free public enquiry service
• Priority search service
• Library and search room with free internet access and wifi
• Image library
• Group visits
• Educational resources
• Digitisation
• Digital datasets and mapping

National Monuments of Wales search room.
DS2007_479_002

For further information, please contact our friendly and professional staff at:
NMRW Library and Enquiries Service
RCAHMW
Crown Building, Plas Crug, Aberystwyth
Ceredigion, SY23 1NJ

Telephone: +44 (0)1970 621200
E-mail: nmr.wales@rcahmw.gov.uk
Website: www.rcahmw.gov.uk
Coflein: www.coflein.gov.uk
Blog: www.heritageofwalesnews.blogspot.co.uk

Subscribe to the Heritage of Wales News and sign up for the full feed RSS, just click this RSS button and subscribe!

Also find us on:


Twitter Hashtag: #RCAHMWales

Appointment of Commissioners (Two Posts)

Can you help us to deliver the best possible historic environment services for the people of Wales?

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales is the unique, independent national archive and investigation service for Wales, dedicated to the authoritative recording and interpretation of our rich historic environment. We operate at arm’s-length from the Welsh Government, with skilled staff providing professional advice and expert information to the public. We’re committed to delivering the best possible historic environment service for Wales, fostering greater understanding and care for our historic buildings and landscapes, and recognising the potential for heritage to help improve people’s lives.

Founded by Royal Warrant in 1908, we now receive our principal funding from the Welsh Government as a Welsh Government Sponsored Body. Through our work we:

• Research and record archaeology, buildings, landscapes and maritime remains from prehistory to the present; 
• Care permanently for Wales’ rich archive of the historic environment in the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW); 
• Support people to learn about our rich heritage through online resources, community outreach and publications; 
• Provide impartial advice and information to help people manage the historic environment sustainably and ethically. 

Building on our recent successes and achievements, we’re now looking to grow and develop our organisation for the future. We’re looking for people to join our Board of Commissioners who are prepared to help direct, challenge and constructively review our work. We’re committed to strengthening and diversifying our board, and so are looking for new members who have experience or expertise in one or more of these areas:

• Have experience in commercial ways of working, marketing and PR, and a proven record of fundraising; 
• Have expertise in archive management; 
• Have expertise in working with communities, particularly hard-to-reach groups, at a strategic level, and a commitment to the principles of equality and diversity; 
• Providing oversight and constructive challenge to organisations with charitable aims; 
• Have knowledge of, and a successful track record, in a senior governance role. 

For further information: http://bit.ly/1Tahbrf


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