by Oak & Willow
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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…
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…
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,…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
🎄Our Christmas order book for Portfolios, Heritage Summary and Full Story prints is now fully booked. We still have limited spaces for Snapshot House Histories to be delivered in time for Christmas. You can still select to receive a gift message at checkout for any of our house history products, but final pieces for all Portfolio, Heritage Summary, and Full Story orders will now be delivered in 2027.🎄