Tithe Project

Last updated: 01/10/2009 Add to My Bookmarks

Tithe Digitisation

The c200 parish and town tithe maps and accompanying survey books (apportionments) of c1840 provide a fantastic snap-shot of land use and ownership in the 19th century and can be useful for local, industrial, building and family history studies. The maps include the boundaries of fields, woods, roads and rivers and locations of buildings. They follow old parish boundaries and are usually large scale. The apportionments give details of who owned and occupied land or particular properties, and what the land was used for.

However, the frequent use has taken its toll on the already fragile collection of maps, some are now unfit for use due to their poor condition, and access is restricted to on-site visits in Truro. In order to preserve the documents and improve access to them, we have undertaken a project to digitise the maps and survey books in conjunction with parish, town and district councils. The project is being implemented in phases and the first two phases are now complete. We still have over 100 maps to digitise but we hope to complete the project by March 2011.

Eventually, we plan to make the images and accompanying databases of information available on-line. In the meantime, they are available as CDROM packages for purchase or use at the Record Office or Cornish Studies Library.

CDROM Tithe Package

CDROM packages containing maps and apportionments are available for many parishes at a cost of £20 per package plus £3 postage and packaging. A discount of £5 is available for residents of certain parishes.

CDROMs containing maps ONLY are available for a further number of parishes. These can be purchased at a cost of £15 each plus £3 postage and packaging. For details of discounts and availability please see below.

The CDROM are compatible with PCs running all versions of Microsoft Windows, but are not available for Apple Macintosh. To order a CDROM package please use the Tithe CDROM Order Form (pdf). If you would like to pay by debit or credit card please use the Credit/Debit Card Mandate Form (pdf).

Volunteer Transcription Project

The Tithe Apportionments provide the link between the landscape and people and are fascinating sources when viewed in conjunction with the map or on their own. The main challenge in using them is that they are arranged by landowner rather than plot number so tracing the information about a plot can be a time-consuming activity. It can also be difficult to search for a particular person or tenement name. To overcome these barriers the record office is undertaking a volunteer project to extract the data from the apportionments to make it available in a searchable format. Individuals and volunteers from Cornwall On-line Parish Clerks and Cornwall Family History Society have been transcribing from the digital survey books as and when they become available through the wider project. When the data has been checked this will also be available on-line.

Volunteering can be undertaken in the record office or from home. If you have basic or intermediate spreadsheet skills and you are interested in joining our team of volunteers, please contact the record office or download and complete a Volunteer Application Form.

CDROM Tithe Package and Map availability

CDROM Tithe packages including map and apportionment:

*Packages are available at the discounted rate of £15 for parish residents.

CDROM Tithe maps only:

*Packages are available at the discounted rate of £12.50 for parish residents.

Contact details:

Cornwall Record Office, Old County Hall, Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, TR1 3AY.

Email: cro@cornwall.gov.uk  Tel: 01872 323127