About Heritage Search
Heritage Search is a catalogue of Oxfordshire's heritage resources. Use it to find a wide range of materials relating to Oxfordshire's past. The reference and contact information associated with each item allows you to find out more about items of interest.
Heritage Search includes the datasets listed below, from Oxfordshire History Centre, Oxfordshire Museums Service, Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record (county) and Oxford Historic Environment Record (city).
Please also see our FAQs.
Consulting collections at Oxfordshire History Centre
If you would like to consult items from the archive or local studies (publications) collections held at Oxfordshire History Centre, please visit our website for details of our current opening hours, booking procedures and research / copying service. Guides to many of our collections, and advice on researching various topics are available online.
- If you would like to contact us about a particular item from the Archive collections, please quote the item’s Reference.
- If you would like to contact us about a particular item from the Local Studies (publications) collections, please quote the item’s Title and Location.
Consulting City Archives’ collections held at Oxford Town Hall
If you would like to consult items from the archive collections held at Oxford Town Hall, managed by Oxfordshire History Centre, please contact us quoting the item’s Reference. Special access arrangements will apply.
Consulting collections at the Oxfordshire Museums Service
If you would like to consult items cared for by Oxfordshire Museums Service, please contact us here and we will advise on how this might be arranged. Please include the accession number or record link where relevant.
Accessing Historic Environment Record data
Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record data (county) and Oxford Historic Environment Record data (city) can only be consulted online.
Oxford Historic Environment Record data on Heritage Search
The Oxford City Council Historic Environment Record (HER) is a constantly changing database of archaeological information, which will be updated on Heritage Search periodically. The most up-to-date information will only be held by the HER, while the data on Heritage Search may be slightly out of date due to the updating schedule.
The information in the HER database is subject to Intellectual Property Rights and should not be reproduced in any format without the written permission of Oxford City Council HER staff. Copyright lies with Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council.
The City Council HER is maintained by the Urban Design and Heritage Team, The City HER contains information on monument/building/findspot records, events or archaeological activity records, finds records, and sources. It also contains information on nationally important designated sites (Scheduled Monuments, Listed Buildings and Registered Parks and Gardens).
The following points are important to consider when using Oxford HER data on Heritage Search:
- Only monuments and buildings are included; other data (including events and landscape) can be accessed by contacting the City Council Archaeologist.
- Because not all HER data is included, the data derived from Heritage Search is incomplete for the purposes of desk-based assessments or studies associated with development, planning or land use changes. For these purposes and all other commercial enquiries, please contact the City Council Archaeologist.
- Although every reasonable effort is made to verify information held within the HER, it is accepted that such records are not definitive since the HER is compiled from a variety of sources, some of which are unchecked. The Oxford HER is enhanced and corrected as new information becomes available but cannot be accountable for the accuracy of all information contained within it. Users who identify inaccuracies or omissions in the Oxford data are requested to notify the City Council Archaeologist, using the contact details below.
- The sites included on the Oxford HER and Heritage Search are part of a public record, but this does not imply public access, as many of the sites are on private land.
Contact Oxford Historic Environment Record
The Urban Design and Heritage Team, Oxford City Council, Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford OX1 1BX.
telephone: 01865 252605
email: heritage@oxford.gov.uk
web: www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20200/archaeology
Datasets included in Heritage Search
| Dataset name | Collection content | Note | Collection location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archives catalogue | Archive collections catalogued to modern standard | Archive catalogues not yet included in Heritage Search are listed here. Links to supplementary online catalogues are listed here. |
History Centre |
| Local Studies catalogue | Local Studies collections (published material, including books, journals, articles, and maps) |
This catalogue can also be searched on SOLO, the catalogue of the University of Oxford libraries. Newspapers not included in Heritage Search are listed here. Trade and street directories not included in Heritage Search are listed here. |
History Centre |
| Picture Oxon | Historic images of Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley from the 1850s to the present, including 380,000 catalogue records of images and 160,000 digital images | Online ordering and download of digital images is available. | History Centre |
| Audio | Catalogue of 5,000 audio recordings or transcripts in oral history collections | Online ordering and download of digital files is available. | History Centre |
| Archaeology | Catalogue of archaeological finds | This catalogue contains all the material that is cared for by Oxfordshire Museums Service and was recovered through archaeological processes. | Museums Resource Centre |
| Social history | Catalogue of social history objects | This catalogue spans a vast range of content cared for by Oxfordshire Museums Service, from agricultural machinery to textiles. It also includes the art collection. | Museums Resource Centre |
| Historic Environment Record (county) | Known and suspected heritage assets recorded on the Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record | Online only | |
| Historic Environment Record (city) | Known and suspected heritage assets recorded on the Oxford Historic Environment Record | Oxford Historic Environment Record, incorporating the City Urban Archaeological Database. Data includes:
|
Online only |
| Sales catalogues list | List of historic property sale catalogues held in Archive and Local Studies collections, 1764-2008 | History Centre | |
| Poor Law name index | Index of individuals and families named in Oxfordshire parish poor law records, 1588-1928 | Most of the entries relate to the Old Poor Law system which operated until 1834 | History Centre |
| Business Index | Index to Oxfordshire businesses, compiled mainly from local newspapers, 1791-2011 | Selective coverage only. Index entries may refer to historic newspaper content, which can be consulted on microfilm. Includes:
|
History Centre |
| People Index | Index to Oxfordshire people, compiled mainly from local newspapers, 1791-2011 | Selective coverage only. Index entries may refer to historic newspaper content, which can be consulted on microfilm. Includes:
|
History Centre |
| Enclosure records list | Historic Oxfordshire and North Berkshire enclosure records, particularly awards, maps and acts mostly dating from the 18th-19th century | The list includes records held at Oxfordshire History Centre and elsewhere including Berkshire Record Office, The National Archives, The Bodleian Library and various Oxford Colleges. A PDF of the list can be downloaded here. | History Centre |
| Tithe records list | Historic Oxfordshire and North Berkshire tithe records, particularly maps, awards dating from the 19th-20th century | The list includes original material held at Oxfordshire History Centre and links to our digitised maps. It also includes microfilm of The National Archives copies that are also available on The Genealogist subscription website. A PDF of the list can be downloaded here. | History Centre |
| Digital publications list | List of digital monographs and journals, dating from 1981 to 2021 |
The list includes digital publications selectively collected by Oxfordshire History Centre, as well as copies of reports deposited with Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record and Oxford City Environment Record. Digital access to these reports is only available on public computers at Oxfordshire History Centre or in any Oxfordshire public library. Includes:
|
History Centre |
| Deposited plans | Historic Oxfordshire lists of plans, sections and books of reference deposited with the Clerk of the Peace 1788-1980 | The list comprise records held at Oxfordshire History Centre and combines the Railways plans list and the Deposited plans list. A PDF copy of the Railway plans list can be found here. A PDF copy of the Deposited plans list can be found here. | History Centre |
| Buckinghamshire Peculiar Wills | List of Buckinghamshire wills held within the Oxford Archdeaconry collection 1582-1806 | These wills mostly cover Aylesbury, Bierton, Buckland and Stoke Mandeville. They were not included in the Oxfordshire Wills index (both printed and online) as they never were in Oxfordshire. | History Centre |
| Berkshire Peculiar Wills | List of Berkshire wills held within the Oxfordshire Archdeaconry collection 1560-1833 | These wills cover Langford. Other Langford Peculiar wills can searched and digital images accessed on FindMyPast. | History Centre |
| Oxford City Engineer’s Building Plans | Index of plans of buildings in Oxford submitted for approval to the City Engineer, 1875-1937 | Microfiche copies of the plans up to June 1922 are available at the Oxfordshire History Centre and should be consulted in preference to the original plan. Where no fiche exists, plans can be accessed at Oxford Town Hall by prior arrangement. Please note that the checking and updating of this index is a work in progress. Information contained in this version may not be accurate. More up-to-date versions will be uploaded periodically | History Centre / Oxford Town Hall |
Find out more
You can find out more about Oxfordshire County Council's heritage services, collections and catalogues, and about Oxford City Council's heritage service, by following the links below.
About Oxfordshire History Centre
- Find out more about the catalogues of our archive and local studies collections.
- Find out more about the types of collections and records we hold.
- Find out more about collections which can be consulted online.
About Oxfordshire Museums Service
- Find out more about our collections and catalogues of archaeological finds and objects recording the county’s social history.
About Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record
- Find out more about buildings, monuments, excavations, surveys and archaeological finds in Oxfordshire (county).
About Oxford Historic Environment Record
- Find out more about buildings, monuments, excavations, surveys and archaeological finds in Oxford city.