People regularly get in contact with us asking for research guidance and advice. There are several fantastic online resources that we recommend and regularly use in our research. The following list of databases, digitised records, finding aids, searchable maps, lists, reports and guidance have been created and are hosted by partner organisations.
Archives Hub: A unified archives catalogue which allows for searching across hundreds of UK archives repositories.
Archives Wales: A map with details on archival repositories in Wales.
Bangor University Archives and Special Collections Catalogue: Searchable catalogue of archives and manuscripts held by Bangor University.
Discovery: A unified archives catalogue which allows for searching across the records held by The National Archives and archives repositories across the UK.
Enclosure Maps of England and Wales: Online catalogue of the parliamentary and non-parliamentary enclosure maps for Wales and England.
Legacies of British Slavery: Database of individuals, families and estates involved in the transatlantic slave trade, developed by UCL.
Maldwyn: An index of Welsh poetry preserved in manuscript, including much of the corpus associated with beirdd yr uchelwyr, hosted by the National Library of Wales.
Manorial Documents Register: Index to Welsh and English manorial documents, hosted by The National Archives.
National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue: Searchable catalogue of archives and manuscripts held by the National Library of Wales.
National Library of Wales Estate Collections: List of estate archives held by the National Library of Wales, with links to collection-level descriptions and the online catalogue.
National Library of Wales Music Archives: A list of estate records relating to musical culture in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Wales.
North East Wales Archives Estate Collections: List of estate archives held by North East Wales Archives (Denbighshire and Flintshire), with links to collection-level descriptions and the online catalogue.
Ancient Woodland Inventory: Interactive map hosted by Natural Resources Wales, showing information relating to the natural environment in Wales.
Archwilio: Database for accessing Historic Environment Records for historical and archaeological sites across Wales.
Cof Cymru: Database developed by Cadw featuring information on designated historic sites in Wales, including listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered parks and gardens.
Coflein: The online database for the National Monuments Record of Wales, hosted by RCAHMW, which contains information and images of thousands of historic buildings, monuments, landscape features and archaeological sites.
Deep Mapping Estate Archives: Web map featuring layers of digital images of historical maps relating to an area in north east Wales.
Discovering Old Welsh Houses Reports: Historic buildings and tree-ring dating reports for pre-1700 houses in north Wales.
Historic Boundaries of Wales: Maps produced by RCAHMW showing the administrative boundaries of medieval Wales, including commotes (cymydau) and cantrefs (cantrefi).
Historic Landscape Characterisation – Clwyd-Powys: Reports analysing the historic character of areas defined by the Register of Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales.
Historic Landscape Characterisation – Dyfed: Reports analysing the historic character of areas defined by the Register of Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales.
Historic Landscape Characterisation – Glamorgan-Gwent: Reports analysing the historic character of areas defined by the Register of Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales.
Historic Landscape Characterisation – Gwynedd: Reports analysing the historic character of areas defined by the Register of Landscapes of Historic Interest in Wales.
List of Historic Place Names of Wales: A searchable database and map, hosted by RCAHMW, which records thousands of place names collected from historical maps and other sources.
Lost Houses of Wales: Database of demolished and derelict country houses in Wales, developed by Dr Mark Baker.
Parks & Gardens – Wales: Database of historic parks and gardens in Wales.
Welsh Ruins: A gallery of photographs of derelict mansions in Wales by Paul White.
Agricultural Surveys of Wales: Digitised versions of the agricultural reports produced by Walter Davies.
Curious Travellers: Digital edition of a selection of Thomas Pennant’s letters and previously unpublished Welsh Tour texts.
Cyfres Beirdd yr Uchelwyr: editions of 44 volumes of Welsh poetry produced by the poets of gentry between c.1284-c.1550.
Dillwyn Diaries: Transcripts of the diaries of various members of the Dillwyn family, hosted by Swansea University.
Guto’r Glyn: Online edition of the poetry of Guto’r Glyn.
LIBRAL - The Library of Rural and Agricultural Literature: Digitised copies of early literature relating to agriculture, maintained by the British Agricultural History Society.
National Library of Wales Estate Maps: A selection of digitised estate maps held by the National Library of Wales.
Penrhyn (Jamaica) Papers Online: A selection of digitised records from Bangor University Archives and Special Collections relating to the Pennant family’s Jamaican sugar plantations and involvement in transatlantic slavery.
Tithe Maps of Wales: A searchable database and map providing access to digitised copies of Welsh tithe maps and apportionments, hosted by the National Library of Wales.
Welsh Newspapers Online: A searchable database of digitised historic newspapers relating to Wales, hosted by the National Library of Wales.
Welsh Wills Online: Access to the wills and probate records proved in the Welsh Ecclesiastical Courts prior to 1858, hosted by the National Library of Wales.
William Bulkeley Diaries: Digital copies of the diaries of William Bulkeley of Brynddu, Anglesey, hosted by Bangor University Archives and Special Collections.
Book Owners Online: A directory of historical book owners in the UK.
Dictionary of Welsh Biography: Biographies of individuals and families who have made a significant contribution to Welsh life.
East India Company at Home: Online bank of articles, blogs and case studies produced by the East India Company at Home project.
Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru: The standard historical dictionary of the Welsh language.
Historic Houses Wales: Stories relating to the restoration and role of historic houses in modern day Wales.
History of Parliament Online: Biographies of MPs, constituency profiles and surveys of parliamentary terms.
Podlediad Penrhyn: Multi episode podcast exploring the history of the Penrhyn estate, created by Dr Kayla Jones.
Trusted Source: Online bank of articles and blogs relating to National Trust sites and collections.
Welsh Historic Gardens Trust Bulletin: Archive of the newsletter of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust, edited by Glynis Shaw.
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales Collections Online: Online catalogue of heritage collections held by the museums comprising Amgueddfa Cymru.
Art UK: Online database of artworks held by public institutions across the UK.
National Trust Collections: A searchable database of the heritage collections belonging to National Trust properties.
People’s Collection Wales: An online database of Welsh heritage items contributed by communities and organisations across the nation.
Deeds in Depth: Research guidance provided by the University of Nottingham on understanding different types of title deed.
Glossary of Legal Terms: Research guidance provided by the University of Nottingham on the legal terms regularly encountered in estate archives.
Introduction to Deeds: Research guidance provided by the University of Nottingham.
Manorial Documents: Online research guidance provided by The National Archives.
Welsh Journals Online: Digitised copies of key periodicals relating to the history and culture of Wales, including early editions of Archaeologia Cambrensis, Transactions of the Cymmrodorion Society, Welsh History Review and the journals and publications of several of Wales’s county history societies.
Our research into the history, culture and landscape of Wales is inspired by, builds on and responds to generations of scholarship. This list presents a small selection of the key published works about Wales that inform and contextualise our research:
An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan: Vol. IV, Part 1: The Greater Houses, RCAHMW (1981).
Lloyd Bowen, Early Modern Wales c.1536-c.1689: Ambiguous Nationhood (Cardiff, 2022).
D. Carr, ‘The Making of the Mostyns: The Genesis of a Landed Family’, Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion 38 (1977), 137-59.
D. Carr, ‘Gwilym ap Gruffydd and the Rise of the Penrhyn Estate’, Welsh History Review 15 (1990), 1-20.
D. Carr, The Gentry of North Wales in the Later Middle Ages (Cardiff, 2017).
Sarah Ward Clavier, Royalism, Religion and Revolution: Wales, 1640-1688 (Woodbridge, 2021).
Matthew Cragoe, An Anglican Aristocracy: The Moral Economy of the Landed Estate in Carmarthenshire, 1832-1895(Oxford, 1996)
Matthew Cragoe, Culture, Politics and National Identity in Wales 1832-1886 (Oxford, 2004).
John Davies, ‘The end of the great estates and the rise of freehold farming in Wales’, Welsh History Review 7, 2 (1974), 186-212.
John Davies, Cardiff and the Marquesses of Bute (Cardiff, 1981).
John E. Davies, The Changing Fortunes of a British Aristocratic Family 1689-1976: The Cawdors and their Welsh Estates (Woodbridge, 2019).
R. Davies, The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr (Oxford, 1995).
Chris Evans, Slave Wales: The Welsh and Atlantic Slavery (Cardiff, 2010).
Colin Gresham, Eifionydd: A Study of Landownership (Cardiff, 1973).
P. Griffith, Learning, Law and Religion: Higher Education and Welsh Society c.1540-1640 (Cardiff, 1996).
P. Griffith, Power, Politics and County Government in Wales: Anglesey 1780-1914 (Llangefni, 2006).
Ralph A. Griffiths, The Principality of South Wales in the Later Middle Ages (Cardiff, 1972).
Sally Harper, Music in Welsh Culture before 1650 (Aldershot, 2007).
David W. Howell, Land and People in Nineteenth-Century Wales (London, 1977).
David W. Howell, Patriarchs and Parasites: The Gentry of South-West Wales in the Eighteenth Century (Cardiff, 1986).
David W. Howell, The Rural Poor in Eighteenth Century Wales (Cardiff, 2000).
David W. Howell, ‘The Land Question in Nineteenth-Century Wales, Ireland and Scotland’, Agricultural History Review61, 1 (2013), 96-101.
Melvin Humphreys, The Crisis of Community: Montgomeryshire 1680-1815 (Cardiff, 1996).
Daniel Huws, Medieval Welsh Manuscripts (Cardiff, 2000).
Brian Ll. James, ‘Great Landowners of Wales in 1873’, National Library of Wales Journal 14 (1965-66), 301-20.
David Jenkins, The Agricultural Community in South-West Wales at the turn of the Twentieth Century (Cardiff, 1971).
Philip Jenkins, ‘The demographic decline of the landed gentry in the eighteenth century’, Welsh History Review 11, 1 (1982), 31-49.
Philip Jenkins, The Making of a Ruling Class: The Glamorganshire Gentry 1640-1790 (Cambridge, 1983).
Philip Jenkins, ‘The creation of an ‘‘ancient gentry’’: Glamorgan 1760-1840’, Welsh History Review 12, 1 (1984), 29-49.
Dafydd Johnston, Llên yr Uchelwyr: Hanes Beiriadol Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg 1300-1525 (Cardiff, 2005).
David J. V. Jones, Before Rebecca: Popular Protest in Wales 1793-1835 (London, 1973).
David J. V. Jones, Rebecca’s Children: A Study of Rural Society, Crime and Protest (Oxford, 1989).
Francis Jones, ‘An Approach to Welsh Genealogy’, Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (1948), 303-466.
R. J. Jones, ‘Field Systems of North Wales’, in A. R. H. Baker and R. A. Butlin (eds.), Studies of Field Systems in the British Isles (Cambridge, 1973), pp. 430-79.
Ieuan Gwynedd Jones, Explorations and Explanations: Essays in the Social History of Victorian Wales (Llandysul, 1981).
Gwynfor Jones, Wales and the Tudor State (Cardiff, 1989).
Gwynfor Jones, Concepts of Order and Gentility in Wales 1540-1640 (Llandysul, 1992).
Gwynfor Jones, The Welsh Gentry 1536-1640: Images of Status, Honour and Authority (Cardiff, 1998).
Gwynfor Jones, ‘The Welsh Gentry and the image of the Cambro-Briton’, Welsh History Review 20, 4 (2001), 615-55.
Pierce Jones, Medieval Welsh Society, ed. J. Beverley Smith (Cardiff, 1972).
Peter Lord, The Visual Culture of Wales: Imaging the Nation (Cardiff, 2000).
William Linnard, Welsh Woods and Forests: A History (Cardiff, 1982).
Thomas Lloyd, The Lost Houses of Wales, SAVE Britain’s Heritage (2nd edn., 1989).
Thomas Lloyd, ‘Country-house libraries of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries’, in Philip H. Jones and Eiluned Rees (eds.), A Nation and its Books: A History of the Book in Wales (Aberystwyth, 1998), pp. 135-46.
Joanna Martin, Wives and Daughters: Women and Children in the Georgian Country House (London and New York, 2004).
J. Moore-Colyer, ‘The Land Agent in Nineteenth-Century Wales’, Welsh History Review 8, 4 (1977), 401-25.
J. Moore-Colyer, ‘Landowners, farmers and language in the nineteenth century’, in Geraint H. Jenkins (ed.), The Welsh Language and its Social Domains 1801-1911 (Cardiff, 2000), pp. 81-100.
Kenneth O. Morgan, Wales in British Politics 1868-1922 (Cardiff, 1980).
Prys Morgan, ‘From a death to a view: The Hunt for the Welsh Past in the Romantic Period’, in Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger (eds.), The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge, 1983), pp. 43-100.
Huw Owen (ed.), Settlement and Society in Wales (Cardiff, 1989).
Huw Pryce (ed.), Literacy in Medieval Celtic Societies (Cambridge, 1998).
Eiluned Rees, ‘An introductory survey of 18th century Welsh Libraries’, Journal of the Welsh Bibliographic Society 10 (1966-71), 197-258.
Peter Roberts, ‘The decline of the Welsh squires in the eighteenth century, National Library of Wales Journal 13 (1963-64), 157-73.
Peter R. Roberts, ‘Tudor Wales, National Identity and the British Inheritance’, in Brendan Bradshaw and Peter R. Roberts (eds.), British Consciousness and Identity: The Making of Britain, 1533-1707 (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 8-42.
P. Siddons, The Development of Welsh Heraldry, 4 Vols. (Aberystwyth, 1991-2007).
Llinos Beverley Smith, ‘The gage and the land market in late medieval Wales’, Economic History Review, 2nd Series 29, 4 (1976), 430-79.
Peter Smith, Houses of the Welsh Countryside, RCAHMW (2nd Edn., 1988).
John Steegman, A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses, 2 Vols. (Cardiff, 1957-62).
Dorothy Sylvester, The Rural Landscape of the Welsh Borderland (London, 1969).
Colin Thomas, ‘Estate surveys as sources in historical geography’, National Library of Wales Journal 14, 4 (1966), 451-68
Colin Thomas, ‘Patterns and Processes of Estate Expansion’, Journal of the Merioneth Historical & Record Society 6 (1972), 333-42.
Colin Thomas, ‘Place-name studies and agrarian colonization in north Wales’, Welsh History Review 10, 2 (1980), 154-71.
Hilary Thomas, A Catalogue of Glamorgan Estate Maps, Glamorgan Archives (1992)
Peter D. G. Thomas, Politics in Eighteenth-Century Wales (Cardiff, 1992).
Herbert M. Vaughan, The South Wales Squires (London, 1925).
Eurwyn Wiliam, The Welsh Cottage: Building Traditions of the Rural Poor 1750-1900, RCAHMW (2011).
David Williams, The Rebecca Riots: A Study in Agrarian Discontent (Cardiff, 1955).
