Your top Victorian and Edwardian tiles questions answered

What is the difference between encaustic and geometric tiles?

Encaustic (literally, ‘burnt-in’) decoration is achieved by stamping a design into the body of a plain clay tile before firing while it is still damp, and filling the stamped impression with liquid clay of a contrasting colour. The tile is then fired to fuse the two clays together. Encaustics may be wholly or partly glazed, but most Victorian encaustics were unglazed.

Encaustic tiles were relatively expensive, and were often combined with quarries (plain square tiles) and geometric tiles in order to cover large areas at less cost. Sometimes erroneously referred to as ‘mosaic’ tiles, geometrics are small, usually unglazed, tiles in straight-edged shapes such as triangles and lozenges, all based on subdivisions of a 6-inch (150 mm) square tile, that can be combined in a variety of patterns. Most geometrics are of natural clay colours, ranging from off-white through red and brown to blue-black.

What sort of tiles would the Victorians have used for the kitchen floor?

Kitchens, sculleries and service passages often had floors made up of cheap 6-inch (150 mm) or larger quarry tiles, in plain, unglazed red clay or red alternating with blue-black.

What sorts of tiles were used on kitchen walls?

One of the commonest forms of wall tiling was plain glazed earthenware in 6-inch (150 mm) square tiles. Slightly dearer 6 inch and 4 inch (165 mm and 115 mm) hexagons and small octagons were also used. These tiles were made in pale colours such as white, ivory, cream, buff, celadon, turquoise and olive.

I want to put a tiled dado in my porch. What design should I choose?

From about 1870, tiled dados began to appear in porches, giving visitors landscapes or floral panels to admire as they waited for admittance. Original tile panels can be found in architectural salvage yards. Alternatively, a dado can be made up using reproductions of Victorian tiles, such as those sold for fireplace panels. These can be paired and framed within a border of plain coloured tiles to make up the full width of the dado. Plain tiled dados can also work well in more modest houses. Look for ‘hand-dipped’ glazes, which have variations and depth of colour not achievable with spray-applied glaze. You will need some matching moulded tiles to make a dado rail.

Before you make a final decision, however, are you sure that a dado is appropriate for your porch? Look at neighbouring houses of similar age and date to confirm whether any decorative treatment was originally intended. Some porches had bare brick or plain plastered walls, and genuine Victorian architecture, however plain or modest, is preferable to fancy fake ‘Victoriana’.

What sort of tiling was used in Victorian bathrooms?

Bathroom tiling was hardly more decorative than that used in kitchens and other service areas. The bathroom was considered a functional room where extravagant decoration was inappropriate: a tiled dado with a moulded ceramic rail was sufficient.

How should I clean ceramic floor tiles?

Ordinary household surface cleaners, used according to the instructions on the label, will take care of day-to-day cleaning. To remove stubborn dirt, use a specially formulated product such as BAL Ceramic floor cleaner or HG Extra Cleaner. Scouring powder, metal scourers or wire brushes should never be used on tiles. Although cleaning products will help to shift a great deal of built-up dirt and old wax, be prepared to contribute a lot of elbow grease.

I have removed a fitted carpet to reveal the geometric tiled floor in my hall. What can I do to disguise the holes left by the carpet fixings?

Fill them with Polyfilla, coloured with acrylic paint (available from art supply shops) to a shade slightly darker than the surrounding tile.

There are a few loose tiles in my geometric tiled floor. What is the best method of repair?

If the tiles are all there and unbroken, you need to lift them out of the floor gently and clean out the hole into which they fitted. The cement left behind bears the imprint of the tile backs, and should be gently chipped away in order to give a good key and enough room for the new cement. Use a vacuum cleaner to remove all loose material from the repair hole. Lightly spray the hole with water, to prevent too much moisture being sucked out of the cement and weakening it. Then apply the new cement, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Replace the tiles in the same pattern.

If you need to replace missing geometrics, it is sometimes best to look for plain unglazed tiles of the right colours that can be cut to the shapes and sizes required. This is because many modern geometrics are made to slightly different sizes and have cushioned edges that do not align well with the Victorian originals. Many modern tiles are thinner than Victorian ones, so it may be necessary to build up the substrate below the patched-in tiles with cement, to bring them up to the right level.

What sort of finish should I give a tiled floor?

The traditional treatment for a tiled floor after cleaning was to apply warmed linseed oil followed by a coat of wax polish. This gave a stunning, lustrous finish to the floor, but is so labour-intensive to apply and maintain that it is inappropriate in most modern situations. Modern cold wax polishes, for example Johnson’s Traffic Wax, or HG Golvpolish are perfectly adequate. These products are available from hardware and DIY shops.

On no account should tiled floors be sealed or varnished with any kind of resin-based or polyurethane finish. Besides their unpleasant plasticky appearance, these may cause long-term problems by sealing in damp under the floor.

Are there any special techniques for installing tiles that would help me to achieve a more authentic Victorian effect?

There are small but significant differences between the way Victorian builders installed tiles and the fashions that prevail today: Victorian tilers always set tiles very closely together. Geometric pavements in particular rely for their effect on close-butted tiles.

Plain coloured tiles were often laid in staggered courses like brickwork, or diagonally, rather than in the square grid pattern favoured today.
New grouting can be coloured to match old by mixing it with universal stainer (an oil pigment sold in tubes and available from good paint suppliers). These stains become lighter in colour as they dry so do a test patch first to check the colour match before grouting a large area.

Don’t forget also to check our series of booklets on Care for Victorian Houses. Every aspect of Victorian house design and interior decoration is described in detail in The Victorian Society Book of the Victorian House.

We would like to be able to help, but we are a small charity with few staff, and we have to concentrate our efforts on saving threatened buildings – so the short answer is no!

However, as we don’t want to discourage anybody from studying the Victorians, here are some starting points and a reading list.

For parents and teachers

Historic England has a section of its website dedicated to education

For children

There are many books about the Victorians. These are just a few of our favourites:

Edward Hayward, Upstairs and Downstairs: Life in an English Country House (Pitkin)

Alison Honey, Investigating the Victorians (National Trust)

Alison Honey, Inside a Victorian House (National Trust)

Brian Moses, Look Inside a Victorian Schoolroom (Wayland)

Michael St John Parker, Life in Victorian Britain (Pitkin)

Sallie Purkis, Your Victorian Locality (Longman)

Anna Steel, Victorian Children (Beginning History Series)

Richard Tames, What do we Know about the Victorians? (Hodder Wayland)

Dorothy Turner, Victorian Factory Workers (Beginning History Series)

Laura Wilson, Daily Life in a Victorian House (Hamlyn)

Uncovering the hidden history of your Victorian or Edwardian house will help you appreciate it.

What evidence can I use to find out about my house’s history?

Historical evidence falls into two categories: physical and documentary. It is usually easiest to start by assessing the physical evidence, which includes everything you can discover by investigating the house itself. Documentary evidence includes all other records (e.g. deeds, maps etc.) of the house.

How should I investigate the physical evidence?

Look carefully at:

• The exterior of the house. Most ‘ordinary’ Victorian houses conform to well-established plans and types (e.g. the London terraced house) and have distinctive decoration that helps to date them. Photographs are useful for comparison with illustrations in books.

• The plan of the house. Look for evidence of alterations and compare with neighbouring houses of the same or similar design to work out the original internal arrangement of the house. Looking at records of sold properties on websites such as Rightmove or Zoopla can often provide such information.

• Interior architectural decoration. This includes all fixed features such as skirting boards, cornices, fireplaces, panelling, windows, and doors, and fittings such as door handles, fingerplates, and window catches. In particular, look at the hierarchy of decoration – more elaborate mouldings in the entrance hall and reception rooms, simpler effects in kitchens and bedrooms.

• Evidence of previous services: gas lights, old electrical circuit boards or bell systems.

• The superficial decoration: wall and floor coverings, paintwork, and curtain fixtures. Old paint layers or scraps of wallpaper give valuable clues to the taste and aspirations of previous occupants. Wallpapers in particular can sometimes be very accurately dated.

What documentary evidence should I look for?

Your local library should have a local studies collection and be able to put you in touch with the local history society. You can find your local archive here. Local studies collections often include old maps, which can be very useful in dating a building and any alterations. Estate maps, drawn up for individual landowners to show rentable properties and plans for new buildings, are often deposited at libraries or county record offices. Tithe maps, showing individual households in each parish, were produced from 1840.

Alternatively, you can search national internet sources. The Library of Scotland have digitised a number of historic OS maps which can be accessed here (https://maps.nls.uk/) and the British Library have digitised the Goad Fire Insurance Maps, a useful source for establishing historical land uses (https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/firemaps/fireinsurancemaps.html).

Photographic evidence is helpful and can help establish the appearance of a house before later changes were made. Images can be found either through simple internet image searches, or via specific collections. Historic England have digitised a number of their old photos and these are available in their Architectural Red Box Collection (https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/englands-places/). Alternatively, photos on Britain from Above can be used to get a better idea of the building and historic surrounding development (https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/). The London Picture Archive is also a great source for those in London with several photos often available of streets and buildings. (https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/). Images on old post cards can often be found of many places try searching for the street or building name on Ebay or other places where such postcards are sold. Finally, Google Street view allows you to go back in time to see previous Google street view images. If unsympathetic changes to the exterior of the property have been made in the last decade or so you may be able to find evidence of what the original doors or windows were like. Even if they had been removed on your house they may have survived for longer on a neighbouring property. (https://blog.google/products/maps/go-back-in-time-…)

How can I find out who lived in the house before me?

Your immediate predecessors can be identified from the sale documents if you own the property. Again, if you have bought a property you may have the title deeds although as more houses are registered at the Land Registry these are increasingly hard to find.

Census returns are another useful source of information. From 1801 to 1831 the censuses were simply head counts with no personal information on individuals (except in exceptional cases). From 1841 personal information was recorded. The National Archives census search facility is a good starting point and National Archives’ website and General Record Office will help you with other government records and sources you need for your family history research such as birth, marriages and death certificates and probate documents and wills.

Local studies collections often have street directories, which contain house-by-house information on residents and tradespeople in a particular area.

Those looking for information on a building in London may also find Charles Booth’s Poverty Maps, digested by LSE, an interesting source for demographic information. (https://booth.lse.ac.uk/map/14/-0.1174/51.5064/100/0)

We often use the Pevsner Architectural Guides in our casework, and it is well worth hunting the relevant copy of this down in your local library. They are usually county specific, with several series’ covering England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but there are some volumes dedicated to particular cities. These guides can be an invaluable source, giving information on particular buildings and their expansion, as well as the surrounding area. There are sometimes some gaps in these, but new editions for various counties are still being produced and are often a great starting point for research. More information can be found here: https://yalebooks.co.uk/pevsner

It’s true. We like timber windows. We hate seeing Victorian and Edwardian windows replaced with poorly detailed plastic.

My house has replacement windows and I want to reinstate the original design. How can I find out what sort of windows it originally had?

The first step is to see whether any original windows remain on the property. There may still be old windows at the back, or in less significant rooms or outbuildings. Neighbouring houses may still have their original windows, which can be copied. Points to note include:

• the depth of the frame and its relationship to the surrounding masonry
• the presence and shape of horns
• the number and proportions of lights in each window
• the thickness and profile of glazing bars, stiles and sashes

How can I improve heat and sound insulation without replacing my original timber windows?

Well-maintained timber sash windows should not rattle or admit draughts. You can upgrade your existing windows with one of several proprietary draught-stripping systems. Some of these you fit yourself; others are fitted by specialists, many of whom work on a franchise basis. For further information, contact the Draught Proofing Advisory Association (DPAA), PO Box 12, Haslemere, Surrey GU27 3AH. Tel: 44 (0)1428 654011.

• Timber shutters provide very good sound and heat insulation, and improve security.
• Thick, lined and interlined curtains cut down heat loss and draughts very effectively. They can be fitted behind front doors using specially designed portière rods.
• Secondary glazing (see below) improves insulation without the need to alter the existing windows.

How can I improve the security of my windows?

Contact your local police station to request a visit from the Crime Prevention Officer. The officer will give free advice on home security.

Locksmiths carry a wide range of window locks. The type that uses a steel screw through the meeting rails is less visually intrusive than surface-mounted designs.

What is the difference between double-glazing and secondary glazing?

Double-glazing usually consists of two panes of glass with a gap of about 16 mm between them. The panes are vacuum sealed into a single unit that is fitted into the window frame.

Secondary glazing is an independent system of windows fitted to the inner window frame. The gap between the outer and inner windows is consequently much wider than in sealed double-glazed units. The secondary frames are aligned with the external window frames, to cause the least possible visual disruption. The advantages of secondary glazing are:

• it does not interfere with the exterior fenestration
• the bigger the gap between the exterior and interior panes, the better the insulation — particularly noise insulation
• it is cheaper than replacing the original windows
• it is reversible.

Is it possible to fit double-glazing in a traditionally-made timber sash window?

Yes. Most timber sash window specialists can make new windows that incorporate sealed, double-glazed units within traditional timber frames. However, the levels of sound and thermal insulation given by double-glazing can often be matched by draught-proofing original windows, by installing secondary glazing or by using thick curtains or internal shutters.

What style of window is best for a loft conversion in a Victorian house?

New openings in a roof must not damage the roof structure, and must be in scale and in keeping with the rest of the house. Dormers should be sensitively designed, modestly scaled and carefully sited so as not to jar with the existing architecture. This is particularly important on the front elevation, but applies also to the side and rear of the house.

The same care should be taken over the choice and placing of rooflights. The aim should be to use the smallest size and number of rooflights as possible, and to replicate the proportions, glazing bars and profiles of Victorian iron rooflights. Replicas of traditional rooflights are available.

Don’t forget also to check our series of booklets on Care for Victorian Houses. Every aspect of Victorian house design and interior decoration is described in detail in The Victorian Society Book of the Victorian House.

We do a lot more in our kitchens than the Victorians or Edwardians did in theirs.

What was the purpose of the scullery?

In the Victorian period, it was universally understood that the kitchen was used only for cooking. Washing-up, scrubbing vegetables and all the messy, low-status activities that involved water were done in the scullery. Even the smallest Victorian houses had a separate scullery, and it was rare for sinks to be installed in kitchens before the twentieth century. The 20th century saw them fall out of fashion and the kitchen either made into an additional living room, or the dividing wall was knocked down and one big Kitchen was created. Today sculleries are better known as utility rooms and are increasing in high demand. Count yourself lucky if you still have one!

How did the Victorians decorate the walls of their kitchens?

Kitchen walls were of plain plaster, regularly whitewashed or distempered. A bag of laundry blue in the paint bucket imparted a faint blue tinge to the walls, which was said to repel flies and imparted a feeling of coolness to the room. Lower down, the walls were covered with a high dado of tongue-and-groove boarding painted with washable gloss paint, tiles or glazed brick for hard wear and hygiene.

Why were the windows in large Victorian kitchens so high?

This was not in order to prevent the servants from daydreaming, or spying on their employer’s family taking the air in the garden. Open ranges generated huge amounts of heat, and so kitchens had high ceilings, with the windows set as high in the walls as possible, for the most efficient ventilation.

When did gas cookers become available?

Gas-fired ranges were exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851, and in 1868 Shrewsbury’s Portable Gas Oven came onto the market. However, prejudice, fear of explosions and health scares about eating food impregnated with harmful fumes delayed the widespread introduction of gas ovens, and they did not begin to replace solid fuel ranges in any numbers until the 1890s.

What floorcoverings were used in Victorian kitchens?

Stone slab or unglazed tiles were the norm. Wooden duckboards were used around the table, where the cook stood. Hard floors were also noisy under chairs or where there was lots of coming and going, hence a Victorian architect’s observation that ‘in small houses … when the Kitchen serves also as the Servants’-Hall, a wood floor for the whole is sometime preferred’.

What cleaning materials did the Victorians use?

Few proprietary cleaners were available, and most of the cleaning materials used in the Victorian kitchen and scullery were hard on the hands. A mixture of soda and soft soap was used for washing up. Whiting made a mild, creamy cleaner that would remove grease. Stronger abrasives such as bath brick and emery powder were used for cleaning knives and iron utensils. Rottenstone was mixed with rape oil to make a paste for cleaning brass and tin. Washing-up cloths were boiled in water to which a little vinegar had been added. Drains were disinfected with chloride of lime.

Where can I see a real Victorian kitchen?

Many houses open to the public have kitchens that can be visited. Many Georgian and earlier houses contain Victorian kitchens, having been modernised ‘below stairs’ in the nineteenth century. To devise your own itinerary, contact the following organisations:

• The National Trust. You can search for places to visit by using the ‘below stairs’ theme button.
• English Heritage.

Your questions answered on Victorian and Edwardian plaster mouldings, cornices, coving, dado rails and more.

What are mouldings made of?

Interior mouldings, often called coving or cornice when on ceilings, are usually made of either plaster or timber, although some applied decorations were also made out of compo, papier mâché or patent formulations.

What height should my dado rail be?

There is no hard-and-fast rule. Here are some points to consider:

• If you are reinstating a dado rail it is usually easy to see where it was originally installed, once the wall is stripped ready for redecorating
• If you are installing a new dado rail, it is helpful to consider the overall proportions of the wall: a high wall with a narrow frieze will require a deep dado.
• the dado rail originally protected expensive wall hangings from the backs of chairs; the point at which the chair-back brushes the wall determines the height of the rail
• a dado rail on a staircase wall should match the height of the handrail on the banisters
• if the dado is to be wallpapered, the pattern repeat may influence the height of the rail
• wallcoverings specially designed for dadoes, such as Lincrusta, may also dictate the precise height of the rail.

Did every Victorian reception room have a ceiling rose?

No. Bedrooms and attic rooms, servants’ quarters and domestic offices were usually given the minimum of architectural decoration.

You can usually tell if a rose has been removed, from unevenness where the ceiling plaster has been patched. When reinstating ceiling roses, align them with the centre of the chimneybreast (which may not be the geometric centre of the ceiling).

How can I remove old paint from plaster mouldings?

There are lots of proprietary paint stripping formulations on the market. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and any warning labels. Wear protective clothing, gloves and goggles. Distemper may be impervious to some strippers. Steam may help to soften it enough to enable it to be chipped out by hand, using wooden sticks, dental picks and old toothbrushes.

All the interior mouldings were stripped out of my house in the 1970s. How can I find out what was there originally?

You will need to do some detective work:

• look for evidence of old decoration: bumps in plasterwork (which may show up better under a raking light), old fixing holes, hardboard or plywood covers on doors and banisters.
• look at neighbouring houses of similar age and style, to see whether they retain their original mouldings. Ask you neighbours if you can sketch, photograph and measure the mouldings.
• look at books about Victorian interiors
• visit preserved Victorian interiors that are open to the public.

Should I pick out the detail of my cornice in different paint colours?

Why not, if you have the patience and the result doesn’t look too fussy? Painting is reversible, so it is not a disaster if you get it wrong.

Don’t forget also to check our Victorian Architects Book Series. Every aspect of Victorian house design and interior decoration is described in detail in The Victorian Society Book of the Victorian House.

Your questions answered on blocked Victorian and Edwardian fireplaces, reinstating fireplaces, original fireplace designs, permitted fuels, removing paint from cast iron, the best finishes; removing smoke stains.

I want to open up a blocked fireplace. How can I tell whether it is safe to do so?

Go outside and look at the chimney. It may have been capped or cowled but it should not have been completely sealed. Even if you do not intend to reinstate any fireplaces it should be unsealed, to ventilate the chimneystack.

Inside the house, remove whatever has been use to seal the fireplace, but do not demolish any brickwork outside the ‘builder’s opening’. Light a spill or twist of paper in the opening. If it burns well and the flame is drawn inwards and upwards, the flue is clear. Get a chimney sweep to clean and inspect the flue before proceeding further. The National Association of Chimney Sweeps, Unit 15 Emerald Way, Stone Business Park, Stone, Staffordshire ST15 0SR. Tel: 44 (0)1785 811732. Fax: 01785 811712. Website: www.chimneyworks.co.uk Email:nacs@chimneyworks.co.uk.

I live in a conservation area. Do I need permission to put back a Victorian fireplace?

No. Internal alterations to houses in conservation areas do not generally require special consent. If in doubt, check with the conservation officer of your local planning department.

I live in a listed house. Do I need permission to put back a Victorian fireplace?

Probably. Listing protects the house as it was at the time it was added to the list, so even if you want to reinstate the fireplace as it was originally built, you may need to apply for listed building consent. Call the conservation officer in your local planning department for advice.

What fuels am I allowed to burn on my open fire?

You cannot burn wood or coal on an open fire in a smokeless zone. Your local authority can tell you whether you live in a smokeless zone. More information is available from The Solid Fuel Association, 7 Swanwick Court, Alfreton, Derbyshire DE55 7AS. Freephone Helpline: 0800 600 000. Website: www.solidfuel.co.uk Email: sfa@solidfuel.co.uk.

How can I find out what sort of fireplace my house originally had?

The best guide would be an original fireplace from a neighbouring house of similar age and date that has escaped modernisation. You can also look for clues as you open up a blocked fireplace: shadowy lines in the plaster on the chimneybreast may indicate the scale and proportions of a missing surround. If you find any parts of the grate or its fittings within the fireplace opening, you can take them to a fireplace specialist or an architectural salvage yard to see whether they have matching parts in stock.

When choosing a replacement fireplace, take into account the status of the house and the room where the new fireplace is to be installed. An elaborate, oversized grate will not suit the living room of an artisan’s cottage and be equally out of place in a maid’s bedroom in a mansion.

How can I get paint off a cast iron grate?

Don’t use heat: the metal may crack under sudden localised changes of temperature. Use a proprietary paint stripper such as Nitromors. Scrape off the softened paint with plastic or wooden spatulas, and work on fine detail with a nylon-bristle brush. Clean the bare metal with white spirit (not water, which might encourage rust to form).

What is the best finish for a cast iron grate?

Use Liberon Iron Paste or Zebo polish (available from paint shops, ironmongers and DIY stores). Apply the polish sparingly and buff up the surface with lots of elbow grease. A low-effort alternative is to paint the grate with ‘stove black’ paint, which is specially formulated to resist heat.

What is the best finish for a timber fire surround?

Expensive hardwoods such as mahogany or oak were simply polished or varnished. Pitch pine was often stained and varnished. Softwoods (pine/deal) were never left bare or stripped, but always given a paint finish.

Suggestions for suitable paint finishes for pine fire surrounds are given in our fireplaces booklet or The Victorian Society Book of the Victorian House.

How can I clean smoke stains off a marble fire surround?

Start by wetting the stained area, to prevent the dirt being drawn into the marble when it is dissolved. Apply the cleaning solution, working it into the stain with a nylon-bristle brush. Rinse the marble well and dry with a soft cloth. Work up from weaker to stronger treatments:

• Household detergent dissolved in warm, distilled water
• dilute household bleach
• A solution of 1 part hydrogen peroxide (100 vol.) to 3 parts water
• commercial marble cleaner, e.g. HG Spot Stain Remover.

Don’t forget also to check our series of booklets on Care for Victorian Houses. Every aspect of Victorian house design and interior decoration is described in detail in The Victorian Society Book of the Victorian House.

As we respond to the climate emergency, what changes can we make to Victorian and Edwardian houses to increase their energy efficiency without spoiling what is special about them?

We would like to be able to help, but often we are asked for information that we are unable to give.

The last thing we want to do is alienate people whose support we would value, so here are some notes to help you put your request into the context of our work.

It may help you to know that we do not:

• cover Scotland or Northern Ireland
• deal with buildings built before c. 1837 or after c. 1914
• keep lists of buildings by type (e.g. all corn exchanges in Britain)
• keep files on any building that has not been the subject of a listed building consent application
• list buildings (although we sometimes recommend buildings for listing)
• keep files on conservation areas
• designate conservation areas (although we sometimes support proposals to designate them)
• have a library that can be consulted by the public
• advise on Victorian life and social history in general
• give grants for research, study or building conservation
• buy, develop, renovate or have control over any buildings apart from our own headquarters
• keep lists of recommended tradespeople
• recommend particular products or services
• keep lists of properties for sale
• complete questionnaires (we feel that in most cases to answer them would give a misleading impression of our work and policies).

On the other hand, if you can target your question precisely at us, we are much more likely to be able to help you. We do:

• keep files on current listed building consent applications that we are commenting on
• keep some files on past listed building consent applications that we have commented on
• produce reports on matters affecting conservation and architectural history
• produce regular newsletters and an annual report
• produce various publications

To be able to help you, we need something precise to go on: the name of an architect, the address and the date of the building, or a request for a comment on a specific aspect of a particular case.

Can I study your case files?

 

Yes. To make an appointment, please write to or email us stating the name and address of the building in which you are interested, the grade at which it is listed, the name of the relevant local authority and if possible the date of the listed building consent application. We can then tell you what, if any information we have got. We cannot undertake to photocopy files. If you are using the post, please send a large SAE for our reply.

Good general guides to conservation and planning law

Charles Mynors, Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments, 4th edn., Sweet & Maxwell, 1999.

Roy Speer and Michael Dade, How to Stop and Influence Planning Permission, Stonepound Books, new edition 2002.

Roy Speer and Michael Dade, How to Stop and Influence Planning Permission, Stonepound Books, 1998.

Consult Heritage Gateway to discover whether a building is listed. Local planning authorities also keep maps showing the boundaries of local conservation areas. They may also have information for residents of conservation areas, or design guides to show how to repair and maintain houses in conservation areas.

Specialist art and architecture collections include:

• Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2 ORN. Tel: 44 (0)207 7848 2701. Fax: 44 (0)20 7848 2887. Email:booklib@courtauld.ac.uk.
• National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7. Tel: 44 (0)20 7942 4400.
• National Monuments Record Centre, Great Western Village, Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2GZ. Tel: 44 (0)1793 41460. Fax: 01793 414606.
• Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Library, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD. Information and opening hours: https://www.architecture.com/contact-and-visit/riba-library
  Telephone: +44(0)20 7307 5355 Email: support@riba.org