Open the app
  1. Home
  2. Lessons
  3. KS3 History
  4. Local history: how to research the history of where you live

Local history: how to research the history of where you live

🎬 The doodle video for this lesson is coming soon. Subscribe on YouTube to see it first.

Every place has a history. Your street, school or war memorial can be linked to the big national stories you have studied.

Asking a good question

Start with an enquiry question, for example: 'How did the railway change our town?' or 'What happened to the people named on our war memorial?'
A good question is focused, can be answered with evidence, and links your area to a national story such as the Industrial Revolution or the world wars.
Some local sites are much older than 1066: look out for Roman roads, hill forts and Anglo-Saxon churches.

Where to find evidence

Census returns: taken every 10 years since 1801. Records with names are released after 100 years.
Parish registers: records of baptisms, marriages and burials, kept since 1538.
Old maps: Ordnance Survey and tithe maps show how a place has changed.
Local newspapers, trade directories, photographs, war memorials and buildings.
Local archives (record offices), libraries and museums, plus oral history: interviews with older people.

Using the evidence

Check each source's provenance: who made it, when and why.
Cross-reference: does another source agree?
Build a timeline, then explain what changed and what stayed the same, and how your place fits into the national picture.
Present your findings with a clear judgement, and list your sources.
Worked example

Plan an enquiry: 'What happened to the men named on our village war memorial?'

  1. Write down the names and any units or dates on the memorial.
  2. Search the census for their families and jobs, and look up military records and local newspapers from 1914 to 1918.
  3. Cross-check the sources, build a short life story for each man, and link it to what you know about the First World War.

Answer: Use the memorial, census, newspapers and military records, check them against each other, and link each story to the national history of the war.

Key idea

Start with a focused enquiry question that links local and national history. Use census returns (every 10 years since 1801), parish registers (from 1538), old maps, newspapers, memorials, archives and oral history. Check provenance, cross-reference and reach a judgement.

The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.

Check you have got it

Answer 6 quick questions with instant marking. If you get one wrong, GCSE-ready shows you why and gives you another go. It is free, and you do not need an account.

Practise this lesson free (6 questions)All KS3 History lessons