15th February 2009, 02:10 AM
To answer the question, the first thing you must do is quantify the mapping resource for your study area. I have done a few rural DBAs where I was lucky to have five detailed maps of the study area, including the three 25" OS and the Tithe, so of course you include them all in that situation.
On the other hand I do a lot of DBAs in urban areas, where there is plenty of historic mapping, so selection has to be an issue. In these cases you include a map on the basis of the information it provides. Does it show the study area in detail, or in context? If yes then consider including. Does it show significant changes to the study area from earlier or later mapping? If yes then by all means include.
If you are fortunate to have 16th or 17th century mapping for your study area, then anything that even suggests there may be a structure in the general area should be reproduced. There may also be certain benchmark maps that it might be considered ignorant to exclude, even if nothing of note is shown e.g. Bristol, Ashmead and Plumley 1828 (part available online at the Bristol Record Office http://archives.bristol.gov.uk/).
In terms of doing the actual research, start with the latest maps first wherever possible. In urban areas do not ignore the post 1948 metric mapping. The 49-51 series of maps will indicate areas of bomb damage (also check local civil defence archive), while the maps of the 60s and 70s will show slum clearance and urban regeneration. Local authority highway adoption notices often have really detailed maps attached for this period, when new road layouts were all the rage. This will help you recognise your study area on earlier maps, especially if the road layout has been completely altered in the last 60 years.
I disagree with Dr Wardle, in that I can easily include up to 20 full colour maps/plans in my reports (if required), with analysis. It helps if you regularly work within a particular area, so you get a handle on the available resources. Also you get known by the local record office staff (treat them nicely) who can then offer suggestions and tend to respond swiftly to your requests.
Keep all your notes and photos too, you never know when the site next door might come up, and believe me it happens.
When reproducing maps, try to keep them to scale, or at least to a consistent scale where possible. Think evaluation, if you know to the nearest metre where building X was, you can accurately locate your evaluation trench over it! It also helps to look for services on the maps and on your site visit. The 1st ed. OS 25" will mark pumps and wells, do not assume these have been made safe.
A good SMR/HER trawl will indicate some of the mapping sources used to extract local information e.g. 'brewery shown on OS 1880 on corner of Axminster St'. The Gloucestershire HER even dish out copies of the OS 25" maps with their paid priority trawls, thus saving time in the record office.
I do not yet know of any local authorities in my area that issue a brief for a DBA, though I have certainly heard of occasions where a DBA has been rejected as unacceptable (usually where the applicant has tried to do one themselves).
A DBA is not just about the historic mapping though. I always look for the 'story'. Maybe it is in the historic mapping, 'building shown at location X in 17th century'. Maybe it is in the AP's, 'earthworks appear to suggest DMV at location Y', or maybe it is in the HER trawl, 'palaeolithic artefact scatter found in area Z during 1930s housing development'.
Always remember the caveat, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
chert
On the other hand I do a lot of DBAs in urban areas, where there is plenty of historic mapping, so selection has to be an issue. In these cases you include a map on the basis of the information it provides. Does it show the study area in detail, or in context? If yes then consider including. Does it show significant changes to the study area from earlier or later mapping? If yes then by all means include.
If you are fortunate to have 16th or 17th century mapping for your study area, then anything that even suggests there may be a structure in the general area should be reproduced. There may also be certain benchmark maps that it might be considered ignorant to exclude, even if nothing of note is shown e.g. Bristol, Ashmead and Plumley 1828 (part available online at the Bristol Record Office http://archives.bristol.gov.uk/).
In terms of doing the actual research, start with the latest maps first wherever possible. In urban areas do not ignore the post 1948 metric mapping. The 49-51 series of maps will indicate areas of bomb damage (also check local civil defence archive), while the maps of the 60s and 70s will show slum clearance and urban regeneration. Local authority highway adoption notices often have really detailed maps attached for this period, when new road layouts were all the rage. This will help you recognise your study area on earlier maps, especially if the road layout has been completely altered in the last 60 years.
I disagree with Dr Wardle, in that I can easily include up to 20 full colour maps/plans in my reports (if required), with analysis. It helps if you regularly work within a particular area, so you get a handle on the available resources. Also you get known by the local record office staff (treat them nicely) who can then offer suggestions and tend to respond swiftly to your requests.
Keep all your notes and photos too, you never know when the site next door might come up, and believe me it happens.
When reproducing maps, try to keep them to scale, or at least to a consistent scale where possible. Think evaluation, if you know to the nearest metre where building X was, you can accurately locate your evaluation trench over it! It also helps to look for services on the maps and on your site visit. The 1st ed. OS 25" will mark pumps and wells, do not assume these have been made safe.
A good SMR/HER trawl will indicate some of the mapping sources used to extract local information e.g. 'brewery shown on OS 1880 on corner of Axminster St'. The Gloucestershire HER even dish out copies of the OS 25" maps with their paid priority trawls, thus saving time in the record office.
I do not yet know of any local authorities in my area that issue a brief for a DBA, though I have certainly heard of occasions where a DBA has been rejected as unacceptable (usually where the applicant has tried to do one themselves).
A DBA is not just about the historic mapping though. I always look for the 'story'. Maybe it is in the historic mapping, 'building shown at location X in 17th century'. Maybe it is in the AP's, 'earthworks appear to suggest DMV at location Y', or maybe it is in the HER trawl, 'palaeolithic artefact scatter found in area Z during 1930s housing development'.
Always remember the caveat, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
chert