General History Free/Official Sites
National Archives
The National Archives at Kew is the largest archive in the United Kingdom and have lots of online archives and tools to help people search
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/houses
The Your Archives: ‘Historical Streets Project’ is an exciting and accessible resource that enables everyone to share and reuse historical information in a way that has not previously been possible. They have a good street level search
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120608115718/http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Your_Archives:Historical_Streets_Project#Browsing
Land Registry
For House Historians, the Land Registry is a great starting point for ownership information. They also have a useful blog to help you establish the age of your house
http://blog.landregistry.gov.uk/how-old-is-my-house/
You can also search the Land Registry for your homes official Title Register with a list of owners and potentially get a copy of your deeds (if they have been lodged with the system). There is a small fee to pay but you can click on the link below to see what documents are available:
www.landregistry.gov.uk/registersearch
Historic England
This is a great place to check if your house is listed or to check for historic buildings in the surrounding area.
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/
British History Online
British History Online (BHO) is an online library of key printed sources for the history of Britain and Ireland. It includes online copies of documents from medieval to twentieth century which are easily searchable and browsable online. It brings together material for British history from the collections of libraries, archives, museums and academics.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/about
Victoria County History
Founded in 1899 and originally dedicated to Queen Victoria, the VCH is an encyclopaedic record of England's places and people from earliest times to the present day. Based at the Institute of Historical Research in the University of London since 1933, the VCH is written by historians working in counties across England and is without doubt the greatest publishing project in English local history
http://www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/
Connected Histories
Connected Histories is a great website created by a group of universities to help online history research. It was created by a partnership between the University of Hertfordshire, the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, and the University of Sheffield. They have used lots of clever computer intelligence wizardry to search and cross-reference a wide selection of obscure online sources.
http://www.connectedhistories.org
Good For The Local Area:
A general understanding of the area can be useful when you're researching the history of an individual house. Whether it's in a village, a suburb, or a city, you can find such information through published resources such as:
Chiswick Library
People sometimes forget this most traditional of local resources They are particularly good for holding local newspapers and copies of historical Electoral Registers. These were compiled annually from 1832 (but don’t forget that women don't appear on the register until 1918 and that the voting age wasn't lowered to 18 until 1969.
Local History & Civic Societies
These tend to be very local and therefore it is best to look up your local societies on a national list such as:
http://www.civicvoice.org.uk/societies
If you are in London then the London Forum can provide more detailed information
http://www.londonforum.org.uk/
London Metropolitan Archives
The London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) is the archive repository for the Greater London area. It holds documents and books covering all aspects of life in London 1067 to the present day.
www.lma.gov.uk
Survey Of London
An online archive managed by the Bartlett School of Architecture, the Survey of London publishes its own research research into the development of London and produces detailed architectural and topographical studies about the capital’s built environment.
https://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture/research/survey-of-london
Commercial Sites
The commercial sites are very useful as they have brought together many of the primary sources listed above and have built some useful tools to help you search them:
Ancestor Homes
Ancestor Homes has an extensive private collection of digitised property deeds and associated documents that relate to properties throughout England & Wales dating back to the 1660s.
The Genealogist
Records on TheGenealogist include digitised copies of the tithe maps and apportionments held at The National Archives which can be searched by name and place. The also have a list everyone who owned more than one acre of land in England (except London), Wales, Scotland and Ireland; plus the the Returns of the Owners of Land (1873–1876) which list everyone who owned more than one acre of land in England (except London), Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/
Mary Evans Picture Library
The Mary Evans Picture Library is a 50 year old independent and family-owned historical picture library. It is a unique resource and very friendly towards volunteer and public sector projects.
www.maryevans.com
Images of England
Historic England have a searchable online archive of old pictures called ‘Images of England’ covering England’s listed buildings, recorded at the turn of the 21st century. You can view over 300,000 images of England’s built heritage from lamp posts to lavatories, phone boxes to toll booths, mile stones to gravestones, as well as thousands of bridges, historic houses and churche
http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/
Find My Past
We have a project account with this site. If you would like to use it, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. This site is particularly good at Census information and they have recently created an easy to use way to searc the 1911 Census. These census records show the name, age, place of birth, marital status and occupation of every resident in every home, as well as their relationship to the head of the household.
Ancestry
Similiar to FindMyPast, Ancestry.co.uk also contains access to census material, and personal histories.
Historical & Useful Maps
Ordnance Survey
As well as new maps the Ordnance Survey also provides historical maps to support projects like house histories. https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/support/historical-maps.html
National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland have been digitising old ordnance Survey Maps for the whole of the UK, particularly those that are out of copywrite and therefore free, enabling homeowners to find and download the relevant maps for their local area.
Land Valuation Maps
In the National Archive you can find the the 1910 Valuation Office Survey which mapped all the properties in the country and recorded details of their owners, occupiers and addresses. However
http://labs.nationalarchives.gov.uk/maps/valuation.html.
Tithe Maps At The National Archive
Many houses, particularly those built on church land, retain some obligation to make a payment to the church. Maps covering this information, usually date from 1836 to 1850 and were created to help administer tithing payments. They show land boundaries, names of tenants or owners, and types of usage. The original maps can be found at the National Archives, and you may find copies at your local record office.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/tithes/
Old Maps Ltd
A commercial site selling old maps
Cassini Maps
Search, buy and download digital versions of the original Registration District maps from the 1871 census on the Cassini Maps website.
http://www.cassinimaps.co.uk/shop/tna1.asp