Blog Posts
Welcome to the Blog
A place where we share insights relevant to house history research, as well as snippets and stories from real house histories.
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Who Lived in My House Before Me? What House History Research Can Reveal
Who Lived in My House Before Me? What House History Research Can Reveal If you’ve ever stood in your kitchen and wondered about the people who cooked there before you, you’re not alone. House history research is one of the most personal (and pretty addictive) forms of historical detective work there is. The good news…
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House History Research Services: How to Choose
Learn how to research the history of your house in the UK and choose the right house history service. Compare Snapshot, Full Story, and research options.
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Uncovering the History of UK House Names
The Stories Behind Historical UK House Names: Real Insights Researching the history behind your house’s name can often reveal more than you might expect. If you’ve ever wondered “what’s the history behind my house name?” or started researching your property, the name is often one of the first and most revealing clues. This post shares…
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What can you find out about your home’s history?
Are you interested in researching the history of your home? Great idea. Finding old records for your home is a fascinating way to connect to its past. But before you dive in, it helps to know what you’re actually looking for, and what’s realistically findable. House history research has grown enormously more accessible in recent…
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What House History Research Can Uncover: The Surprising Story of Whitesmocks Farmhouse
This house history was purchased as a gift for someone who had recently bought a beautiful historic home in the village of Tunstall, Sunderland. Commissioning a house history through Oak & Willow is a perfect way to mark the moment with something that lasts much longer than a bottle of champagne. The stories hiding in…
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“What Does a Date Stone on a House Mean? How to Read the Clues”
What Does a Date Stone on a House Mean? Have you ever noticed an old house with a date stone? Maybe paired with a set of initials? Or perhaps even your own home has one. This popular historical trend provides huge clues for house history. Let’s explore what a date stone on a house means…
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When a House Name Is a Puzzle: The Story Behind Reawem
One of my favourite things about researching old houses is how often they turn out to be hiding remarkable stories. Every so often, a property offers up a detail that feels like a gift. Receiving the order for 197 County Road was exactly that. On the surface, it’s a charming detached 1930s house; behind it…
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A House Historian’s Dream: Exploring St Osyth Priory, The Abbot’s Tower, and the Medieval Cage
For anyone who appreciates old buildings and their history, St Osyth’s has to be on your list of places to explore. Hidden on the Essex coast, St Osyth is one of those rare places where layers of English history sit almost completely intact. As a house historian who spends my days researching period homes, tracking…
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An Ordinary Man with an Extraordinary Life: A Sussex Steward Who Survived the Titanic
House history research into an address in a small West Sussex village surfaced the story of Arthur Victor Edwards Burrage. An ordinary young man, born into a large working-class family, who found himself living to tell a very extraordinary tale. Arthur’s story began in the village of Warnham. Born in 1891, he was one of…
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The Curious Case of Katie Gould: Love and Betrayal At an Old Epsom Address
This week’s house history research into an address in Epsom brought me across a curious story that unfolded in the town back in the late 19th century. Victorian England was a very different country to the one we know today, especially in how the law treated personal relationships. This story originated out of South Street,…
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From London’s Theatres to the Colonies: The Scandal a House History Revealed
Whilst researching the history of an address in Berkshire, I stumbled across a case that pulled me far beyond deeds and census returns. The name that surfaced was Lydia Astell – born in Berkshire around 1796, the daughter of Ellick Etherington and Hannah Robley. Her story could not be neatly contained within four walls. Instead,…
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Tracing a Victorian Murder Through House History
When House History Turns True Crime This house history took me to the beautiful, historic market town of Petworth in West Sussex. Known today for its antique shops, handsome Georgian facades and character cottages, the streets are full of charm — but I could already sense there were deeper layers of history waiting to be…
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Why I turn House Histories into Display-Worthy Art
Why I Turn House Histories Into Display-Worthy Art The inspiration behind Oak & Willow Cottages came directly from personal experience. For years, I’ve been obsessed with researching old buildings. Not just the grand ones — but the everyday old homes too. Both the homes that people passed down through generations or simply lived in quietly…
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Which House History Is Right for Your Home?
Which House History Research Package Is Right for Your Home? If you’ve been wondering how to find out the history of your house, you’re not alone — and you’re in the right place. At Oak & Willow, every house history research project begins with a Pre-Research Check. This first step identifies what records survive for…
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The Story Behind Oak & Willow Cottages
Discover the personal story behind Oak & Willow Cottages. Founder Abbie shares how a lifelong fascination with historic homes, forgotten buildings, and the people who lived in them became a house history research business.
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Viewing Records for House History
A visit to the local archive office Archive offices are a goldmine for anyone doing historical research. While digitisation has come a long way and there’s now a huge amount of information online, archives still hold documents you simply can’t find elsewhere – correspondence, photographs, diaries, business records, and more. If you’ve hit a ceiling…
