Right-of-way evidence

Parish Acreage Returns (1801)

1710 - Inclosure awards

Tithe Surveys
This is good source of information for researching public rights of way.

1910 - 15 Valuation Office Maps and Field books

The Finance Act (1909-1910)
Reduction in tax were given if the owner admitted a right of way across a plot of land.

Old Maps of Hampshire

Old Maps of Bedfordshire

National Farm Surveys (1940 - 1943)

Highways order

Rights of Way Act 1932
Has a past owner admitted a right of way?

Deposited Plans
Plans like motorways, railways, canals and drainage tunnels.

Quarter Sessions rolls
According to the Bedfordshire Historical Society who have stated that the above named rolls were indexed by the archive unit at Bedfordshire CC. Unfortunately records that relate to road closures and diversions of ROW were removed, reason unknown at this stage.

Journals of the House of Commons

Parish Records (Highway Maintenance records)
The Highways Act of 1555 transferred responsibility for the roads from the manor to the parishes. Every man had to work on the roads for four (later six) days `statute duty' and provide horses and carts for the work. One or two men were appointed annually as unpaid Surveyors of Highways by local Justices of the Peace. The Justices were responsible for auditing the accounts and could prosecute parishes for failure to maintain roads. It is not until the second half of the 17th century that there is any written evidence of the system in operation.

Access to Archives
The A2A database contains catalogues of archives held across England and dating from the 900s to the present day.

O/S Book of Reference and name books
Many first editions of the O/S 1:25,000 maps have a Book of Reference for each parish. These books are are kept at the British Library. The description carries no legal authority, but could be used as supporting evidence.

Bedfordshire Parishes & Places
Guide to Parishes and places in Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire and Luton Libraries' Catalogue

Chronological Table of the Private and Personal Acts

Magistrates' Courts in Bedfordshire
A brief history of the law courts in Bedfordshire 1314-2000
1885 beds boundary map 1885 Herts Boundary map

Befordshire & Luton Online
Over 33% of their catalogues is now available online.

Bedfordshire & Luton Archive Map collection

The Sime Report
Bedfordshire County Council appointed W.A.Sime Q.C. in 1954 to conduct hearings into the objections received from landowners and the public relating to errors on, and omissions from, the Draft Map.

Royal Society: www.royalsoc.ac.uk
Catalogue of the 6-inch and 25-inch county maps and town plans of England and Wales and the Isle of Man, and of the one-inch and smaller scale maps, and other publications of the Ordnance Survey of the United Kingdom, to 1 January 1907

COPAC
COPACŽ is a union catalogue. It provides FREE access to the merged online catalogues of 24 of the largest university research libraries in the UK and Ireland PLUS the British Library & the National Library of Scotland.

HMC
Historical Manuscripts commission

Bailii
The British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) provides access to the most comprehensive set of British and Irish primary legal materials that are available for free and in one place on the internet. As at 6 February 2003, BAILII includes 34 databases covering 6 jurisdictions. The system contains around six gigabytes of legal materials and around 475,000 searchable documents with about 15 million internal hypertext links.

1940's aerial photography
Between 1946 and 1949 the Royal Air Force took a black and white aerial photographic survey of the country using specially modified Avro Anson and Mosquito aircraft from 58 and 540 squadrons, and Williamson F52 and Fairchild survey camera equipment. The survey is one of the most significant national pictorial records available and is of incalculable historical importance.

Does anyone know where this collection is?