Tracing the history of your house

Tracing the history of your house is a fascinating project. You can uncover past details of the building and its site, its previous uses, its owners and occupants.

Street numbering is a relatively recent development. Often the only way to identify a property is by the names of owners or occupiers, or by a description of its site in relation to neighbouring landmarks.

For this reason, it is important to collect information about adjoining features, such as roads and rivers. Start with known facts and work backwards in time.

Many of the sources mentioned below are held by the Norfolk Record Office (NRO) or the Norfolk Heritage Centre (NHC) and others by The National Archives (TNA).

You may also find our guides to tracing the history of a parsonage and researching the history of your home in King's Lynn useful.