House History: The Comprehensive
A Deeply Researched, Elegantly Presented Portrait of Your Home’s Past
For period homes with rich history — Georgian villas, Victorian townhouses, converted chapels or farm houses — our Comprehensive Package delivers a richly layered house history, thoughtfully researched and beautifully told. It’s a story that captures the character of your home and the lives that shaped it.
We’re over 50% booked for Christmas 2025. Book now to ensure you receive your beautifully printed story in time for the festive season.
£3250 in full
Options to pay over 2, 4, 6 or 10 months, starting from £325 per month
Our Promise: If your home isn't viable for your chosen package after initial assessment (less than 5% of cases), we'll either provide a full refund or switch you to a package that better matches your property's available records — you'll only pay the £49 Records Check fee.
‘We are blown away by all the stories and information you found. We spent hours poring over it all yesterday. I bought it as a gift for my husband's birthday, and we also gave a copy of the storybook to my husband's parents – they were moved to tears.’
CAROLINE FANCOTT-BEYNON, PEASELANDS, CUMBRIA Skip to:
[What’s Included & Pricing] • [Who It’s For] • [What You Might Discover] • [FAQs] • [Design Options] • [What Happens After You Book] • [Our Promise]
What’s Included:
This 50-hour package unfolds over 12-16 weeks, including 25 hours of expert research (both online and in archives), drawing from 50–60 sources, plus transcription and referencing, writing and editing, design and layout, and print production.
The Comprehensive explores all of the online sources included in a Classic package plus archival sources, including estate records, sales particulars, building plans, deeds, leases and conveyances, manorial records, further tax records, personal correspondence, and more - depending on what survives for your property.
A highly detailed, chronological narrative
Two beautifully printed and bound storybooks featuring a detailed research report with full transcriptions of all records found, images of documents and maps, and your home’s full story
An A2 fine art giclée wall print designed to showcase the narrative
A digital edition of your storybook and a digital portfolio of all research material
Timeline:
12-16 weeks completion, depending on current project volume
Pricing:
£3250 in full
Options to pay over 2, 4, 6 or 10 months, starting from £325 per month
Our Promise: If your home isn't viable for your chosen package after initial assessment (less than 5% of cases), we'll either provide a full refund or switch you to a package that better matches your property's available records — you'll only pay the £49 Records Check fee.
Designed for Homes with Deep Roots and Layered Histories
For homes with strong research potential and richly layered pasts, the Comprehensive package is designed to uncover every available detail and present it in a format worthy of your home’s legacy.
This is the perfect fit for substantial properties — such as Victorian villas, Georgian townhouses, or extended farmhouses — that have evolved through generations of change. Many of these homes reveal layered stories shaped by urban development, inheritance, shifting uses, or adaptation across time.
The trail may include families with longstanding ties to the area, links to local industry or landowners, and detailed records like maps, deeds, valuations, architectural plans, and newspaper archives. Researching a home like this often involves connecting multiple threads to create a rich, chronological narrative.
The package we received was so much more than we were expecting. The storybook and the file of images contain such an enormous amount of fascinating information.
And we love the wall print; it will take pride of place in the cottage.
BARBARA PEARCE, UPTON'S COTTAGE, FALMOUTHWhat Might You Uncover?
Homes suited to the Comprehensive package often reveal multiple layers of history:
Residents tied to social change, wartime efforts, or estate families
Changes in land use or architecture recorded across decades
Links to published local histories, map archives, and lost professions
Generational ownership or adaptation, such as converted farm buildings, schools, or villas split into flats
‘Finding out the history of the place makes me feel that I'm almost in touch with the people that lived here’
LITTLE GILLIES, A GEORGIAN COTTAGE IN RURAL CORNWALL
Liz Toth has always felt a strong connection to the stream that flows at the bottom of her garden, which winds its way through the rugged moorlands of rural Cornwall surrounding the 230-year-old stone cottage (previously, two adjoining cottages), Little Gillies, where she lives with her husband, Phil, and their furry companions. ‘It’s always been special to me. Every day I go and watch it and listen to it for a minute. I don’t want it to ever become just background noise…and to find out that for the people that lived here, it wasn’t just a pretty stream – it was actually integral to their lives and their livelihoods - that really resonated.’
The first record of tin streaming at Little Gillies came in the will of Stephen Cock of Roche, who died on 19 March 1799, aged 82. Stephen left his son John, ‘all my right I have in that tin stream work called by the name of the Gilley work’. There was no mention of the Little Gillies cottages yet, although the first cottage was believed to have been built around this time and the second by the early 1800s — most likely by the Cock family.
‘When we first moved in, we stood against the big granite lintel above the fireplace in the oldest part of the house, and we touched it, and I remember saying, I wonder how many people have had their hands on this lintel? Because it would have been the hub of the house; it would have been where they cooked, where they cleaned and told stories, where they argued, where they laughed, where they cried. And there would have been hundreds of people over the years, in this room, doing exactly what we do - having dinner - I wonder how many people have sat and had Christmas dinner in this very spot?’
By 1901, Marwood Toms, 29, a clay labourer, occupied the cottage. He lived with his wife Rebekah, 30, and their children. The Toms later lost their grandson, Harold, in World War Two, and Marwood died in 1957, aged 86. His son, Ernest, 53, still lived at Little Gillies in 1965. The cottage then passed hands several times before Liz and Phil made it their home in September 2021, marking the next chapter in this 230-year-old story.
Some key records that helped underpin and guide the research included the tithe maps of Luxulyan in 1839, which allowed us to trace back the owners of the cottages and surrounding land into the 1700s, leading to the wills of the Cock family.
‘Finding out the history of the place makes things make sense in the house; it all starts to fit in place. I feel that I'm almost in touch with the people that lived here.’
Click image to view
What will you uncover?
FAQs
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This depends on the scope of your chosen package.
Our House Tales packages are designed to give you a handful of curated glimpses into your home's history and the people who shaped it - rather than a full chronological timeline.
For our more in-depth packages (Classics, Comprehensives and Premiums), we will trace ownership chronologically as far back as records allow, uncovering as many individuals and families as possible within your chosen scope.
As Classic packages are limited to online records, this may mean that findings are mostly post-1840s (as most older records are found in the physical archives, which are explored in a Comprehensive or Premium package).
Please note that information available on occupants and owners after the 1939 register can be very variable due to privacy laws limiting access to national records.
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Yes, we will transcribe and reference any records/material already in your possession. Depending on the extent, this time can either be included as part of the research time in your package, or we can add additional hours to your package - we can advise on this pre or post-booking.
In terms of research you have already undertaken, we will also need to check, transcribe and reference your research - and again, depending on the extent of this, the time can either be included as part of the research time or be added to your package.
Please email us: support@pursuingthepast.co.uk if you have any questions.
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Yes, you can always upgrade later at the cost of the difference between the two packages.
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Precise build dates emerge in about half of our house histories - though the likelihood of finding them varies with the property's status and age (and is more likely in our bigger packages, which give us access to physical archives), we have uncovered construction dates for Victorian homes even in our House Tales research.
In our online research packages (the House Tales and the Classic packages), if precise dates can’t be found for Victorian and Edwardian properties, we are usually able to narrow down construction periods using maps. For older properties, archive research may be needed to provide a construction period. It depends on the status of the property and the available records for each property.
Architect and builder details tend to surface more often for grander properties.
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Historical photographs are available for about 5-10% of properties, so they are relatively rare but exciting to find! They are much more likely to be found for grander properties and in our archive packages, but we have also been lucky to find photographs for more humble properties and even in our online research packages.
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The main focus of our work is the social history of a house; however, we will always include details of the house’s architecture and development whenever we find them during our research.
We will ask you to share anything you know about the house and its history and development before we begin your commission – as any information you have could be very useful in our research and in building a fuller picture of the house’s history.
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Yes! For homes built after 1920, we offer our Modern House Tales package, which explores your property's surroundings, the land it was built on and how your neighborhood has evolved over time.
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Many historical records are now available online, including census returns, maps and newspapers, and our House Tales and Classic packages harness these online resources to uncover fascinating details about your property's past.
However, the full story of your home often extends beyond digital archives. For a deeper exploration, many valuable records are still only accessible in local and national archives, including deeds, tax records, older maps, wills and probate records, sales particulars, estate and manorial records, and more. Our Comprehensive and Premium packages include this archival research, often revealing additional layers of your home's history.
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In over 90% of cases, we find sufficient records to create your home's story. After booking a full package, our first step is to conduct a records check. If we find that there aren’t sufficient records to fulfil your chosen package, we will adjust the package level and refund the difference. If we find that your home can’t be easily identified in enough records to fulfil our smallest package, you will receive a full refund less our £49 search fee.
If we find that your house can’t easily be identified in records, this doesn’t mean that no records are available for your house anywhere, but just that we can’t guarantee that further research would produce the results needed to be able to fulfil one of our packages. In this case, we will advise on next steps.
If you prefer, you can book a Package Check first to determine if a property is eligible for one of our house history packages, and which package it is best suited to.
If you have any other questions or queries, please get in touch: support@pursuingthepast.co.uk
Your Design Options
Your home’s story will be presented in a luxurious, heirloom-quality format:
A2 fine art wall print customised to your choice of pattern and colour palette
Two beautifully bound storybooks featuring maps, images, research report and narrative
Your full research archive provided digitally
Each piece is printed on archival-grade materials and crafted to be proudly displayed.
Scroll through the gallery below to view your pattern and colour options for your house history wall print:
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What happens after booking?
Step 1: Welcome Email & Information Form
You'll receive a form to share what you already know — from deeds to family stories.
Step 2: Discovery
Our researchers explore online databases and physical archives, accessing census records, land deeds, estate papers and local newspapers to uncover your home’s story.
Step 3: Crafting the Narrative
We weave our discoveries into an elegant, chronological narrative, integrating social history and human stories to bring your home’s past vividly to life.
Step 4: Design & Delivery
Your story is edited, designed, and produced — then carefully packaged and delivered to your door, ready to be treasured for generations.
To ensure you receive your Welcome Email, please add support@pursuingthepast.co.uk to your email contacts. Haven't received it? Please check your spam folder and email us if you need any assistance.
Our Promise to You
Within two weeks of booking, we’ll carry out an initial Records Check to confirm your home is suitable for your chosen package.
If it isn’t, we’ll recommend the best alternative - or offer a refund (minus our £49 Records Check fee). That way, you can move forward with total peace of mind.
Take Your Next Step with Confidence:
Flexible payments available via Visa, Mastercard, or PayPal
Still comparing options? [Explore All Packages →]
Want to know what happens next? [See How It Works →]
Need a little guidance? [Browse our FAQs →] or [Meet the Team →]
Thinking About a Christmas Gift?
We’re over 50% booked for Christmas 2025. Booking now ensures you’ll receive your beautifully printed story in time for the festive season.
‘My favourite part is the advert that you found from the architect advertising for builders to work on the chapel. It's such an unexpected thing to have. We love it.
Liz, THE OLD CHAPEL, HUNTINGDONSHIREStill deciding?
Not ready yet? Start with a Package Check and we'll assess your home's research potential.
