11 October
Have you ever wondered what English towns or cities looked like before the war, or whether their history stretches back as far as Domesday Book? Thanks to two new web features launched by The National Archives, it is easier than ever to find out.
An interactive map on our Labs site - an online testing ground for new features and resources - enables visitors to hone in on Domesday data for their area, or download stunning photographs from the early 20th century.
David Thomas, Director of Technology at The National Archives, explained: 'The Labs site enables us to experiment with innovative new features that can open up our records in new ways to a wider audience. Domesday Book is one of our oldest records here at Kew but thanks to technology we've made all of its rich content available to anyone online.'
Domesday on a map
Our Domesday tool shows a map with those places mentioned in William the Conqueror's great survey of England in 1086. Search by postcode and then click through to find the 11th century name of your home town. For a small fee, you can download a copy of the relevant page, alongside an English translation.
If you live in Milton Keynes, for example, you'll discover that the settlement was known as Middeltone or Midueltone in 1086. Among the many people who held property there were Countess Gytha, wife of Earl Ralph; Leofwine, thegn of King Edward and Ulf, man of Esger the staller.
UK history photo finder
The Labs site also includes the UK history photo finder which enables visitors to use their postcodes to search and view digitised historical photos of the UK and Ireland. The first collection is that of the photographer J. Dixon-Scott, with over 14,000 of his photographs. Dixon-Scott spent much of his time touring the country taking photographs of landscapes, towns and people, building a comprehensive and candid portrait of British life in the 1920s to 1940s.
User feedback
We've created The National Archives Labs because we want to involve our users in the development of our services. Whether it be an improvement to an existing service or a completely new and innovative way of presenting the rich and vast data we hold, we want you to tell us what you think and be a part of making our records more accessible: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/labs
