"Ryde's Map"

This is a survey carried out between 1863 and 1865 of the individual parishes within the Chertsey Union, in our case this is the Parish of Walton on Thames and the Parish of Weybridge, as a way of recording ad assessing the value of the parishes by evaluating the lands and properties within each parish . The survey, carried out by the surveyor Edward Ryde is, essentially, in two parts for each parish:

The Map

Each parish had a wonderfully detailed map, with all the buildings (domestic or otherwise), fields, bodies of water and woodland clearly shown, numbered and colour coded. The maps are huge - based upon a scale of "one inch to three chains", the map for the Parish of Walton on Thames (in which the bulk of Oatlands lay) measures 171" x 135" (approximately 4.4m x 3.5m) and are hand drawn in ink and watercolour on linen-backed paper. All of the individual parish maps are together in one enormous roll - not the easiest of things to deal with...

The Books

Each parish generated a book recording details for each item on the map, recording the name of the occupier, the name of the owner, the number on the map, "Description or Mode of Cultivation", area (in Acres, Roods and Perches), price per acre, gross estimated rental and rateable value - all written in beautiful 'copper-plate script' and bound together in large leather-bound volumes. Unfortunately, when working from the map to the book, all the entries are in alphabetical order of the occupier rather than by the reference number shown on the map - ideal for family historians who want to discover where their ancestor lived, but less than convenient for local historians.

The Data Set

We intend to obtain a photographic copy of the overall map for each of our two parishes and 'divide' it into sections, for ease of locating properties, that will be accessed by clicking on an area within the overall map. We will also photograph each of the books and create transcribed lists (probably in MS-Excel format) sorted in alphabetical by the surname of the owner, the surname of the occupier, the name of the property if it is given (or known from other sources) and by the reference number on the relevant map.

The 1910 Valuation Survey

The “1910 Valuation Survey” (as it is popularly known) was created as part of “The Finance (1909-1910) Act”. The main object of the Finance Act was to tax the capital gain of property related to the site itself, but excluding gain from crops, buildings and improvements paid for by the owners. The value on 30 April 1909 was the baseline for later comparisons of value on sale, lease, or transfer of a property. The Survey was composed of two parts:

Plans

Each unit of property was assigned an assessment number (sometimes also called a hereditament number) and two sets of plans based on large scale Ordnance Survey maps were drawn up. Working plans and other documents used during valuation often survive in local archive offices. Final record plans and assesments are held at The National Archives but, as seems to be the way of these things, the plans for Oatlands and the surrounding area are officially listed as “Lost”, thus making it very difficult to physically locate a property “on the ground” – particularly with those that are listed out of sequence in the field books.

Field Books

In the related field books which contain bound up sheets of 100 properties, the details given vary quite considerably. Typically for Oatlands, the name of owner and occupier, a description and the valuation, rates and rents are given, and it is these that we have recorded within the data set.

We do have a complete set of images, which, for reasons of copyright, we are unable to make available and can advise you of any other information that exists within the Field Books for a particular property – please contact our research coordinator by using this link.