Surrey History Centre is coordinating a cooperative project to digitise Surrey’s tithe records. This will protect the originals and make their content more readily available. Volunteers are needed to transcribe the tithe apportionments for each parish onto spreadsheets.

Tithe maps and apportionment schedules produced under the Tithe Act of 1836 are a unique national resource, possibly only surpassed in value by the Domesday Book. They provide accurate data on the geography, ownership, occupation, use and economic productivity of the land. Researchers of local and regional history, archaeology, economic history and genealogy will all find them invaluable.

Very high resolution, coloured digital images of the tithe maps have recently been created, funded by the Surrey Wildlife Trust, the Surrey Archaeological Society, the Surrey History Trust and Surrey Heritage. Now, the second phase of the project, to transcribe the apportionments, is getting under way. The apportionments record the ownership and occupation of each parcel of land, what it was used for and the tithe rent-charge due.

If you would like to volunteer to help transcribe the apportionments please contact Sally Jenkinson at Surrey History Centre (sally.jenkinson@surreycc.gov.uk or 01483 518760).  You will be able to work at home using digital images of the apportionments; and at the end of the project you will receive a CD containing the tithe map and apportionment of the parish you transcribe.  Sally would also be very interested to hear from you if you have already transcribed the tithe apportionments for your parish.

If you would like to know more about the project, please contact either Sally Jenkinson at Surrey History Centre or David Young of Surrey Archaeological Society (david.young@skylark.me.uk or 020 8940 7360).