Local History

An understanding of the local history of a town allows you to appreciate it even more. It allows you to understand the experiences of former citizens of your town and what civic pride meant to them. The British Association for Local History is the umbrella organisation for Local History Societies and encourages the academic pursuit of the subject.

The following tables are derived from different sources and can be found in the book “Local History in England” by W.G. Hoskins (first published in 1959).  They show the ranking of the leading English towns over a period of about 500 years.  Though they offer a good general guide to the change in economic conditions of some fifty towns, they must be used with a certain amount of caution.  Some of the difficulties involved in setting out the tables are detailed in the notes below them.

Table 1 - English Town Rankings - 1334 (Based on Tax Quota)

Table 2 - English Town Rankings - 1377 (Based on Taxpaying Populations)

Table 3 - English Town Rankings - 1523-27 (Based on Subsidy Paid)

Table 4 - English Town Rankings - 1662 (Based on Number of Hearths Taxed)

Table 5 - English Town Rankings - 1801 (Based on Census Population)

Table 6 - English Town Rankings - 1861 (Based on Census Population)

This page was last updated: 30/09/07

Town history extracts are taken from Wikipedia and are licensed under GFDL