The Field Books have a completely different layout to the Domesday Books. Each property has two double page spreads, with 100 properties in each book. The majority of the information is actually contained on the first double page spread and this information has been transcribed into a 32 column table in an Excel spreadsheet. A more compact table of 12 of these columns is available as a web page.

Some properties have additional information which did not fit into the first double page spread and is on the second. This primarily relates to the farms, where there is a sketch and list of farmyard buildings, and the churches, for which a list of trustees is provided. The other information on the second page spread is a summary of the valuation data.

The information appears to have been collected mainly in the first few months of 1913, although some properties were assessed in 1912, whilst a few others were not done until 1914.

The Field Books were the permanent record of the Survey and hence were in use for a number of years. Therefore, changes of the occupiers and owners were also recorded, using coloured ink. The dates of these (where recorded) go up to about 1921.

Apart from the name of the occupier, and name and address of the owner, the surveyor provided a description of the various buildings and land. The building descriptions use abbreviations, which are fairly easy to decipher, e,g. B=brick, St=stone, W=wood, S=slate, T=tile, Th=thatch, I=iron. The surveyor recorded comments on the state of repair of some properties (e.g. the Manor House is recorded as being in bad repair inside and out, with all ceilings bad, and the foundations 'said to be bad') as well as his view on whether the rent is reasonable (e.g. the Parish Council rented Stonepits Close to Henry West at a 'very dear rent').

The Field Books are now at the National Archives at Kew.

Transcription

• Data table - web page - includes 12 of the 32 data items for each Sherington property
• Complete transcription - Microsoft Excel 2003 workbook - all 32 pieces of information from the first double page spread of each property.
• Supplementary information - for some properties, mainly the farms and churches, additional information was recorded.

Note: only the Sherington properties have been transcribed. The Field Books also contain Chicheley (Nos. 1 to 60, and 255 to 262)

Photos of Original Pages

Examples of Original Pages - digital photos of several original pages illustrating the content for different types of property.

If you spot a mistake in any of the transcriptions, please tell us, so we can correct it.

All the information on the 1910 Land Survey, the transcriptions, photos and maps are copyright. They may not be republished and they may not be used for commercial purposes.