Gartmore through the ages – researching local history using maps and plans at the Council Archives

The Council Archives holds a variety of maps and plans, most of which are unique. It is possible, using these, to trace the topographical history of your local area or the immediate environment of any building you are interested in.

This post concentrates on the village of Gartmore now in the Stirling Council area but formerly in Perthshire. The Archives holds two wonderful estate plans of the Gartmore Estate, owned initially by the Cunningham-Graham family and then latterly by the Cayzer family. The earliest plan, surveyed by James Richmond, shows the village of Gartmore as it was in 1776.

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A later estate plan, surveyed by Charles Ross, shows the village as it was in 1853.

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You can find out more about the Cunningham-Grahams and the Gartmore Estate in our previous blog post here.

Ordnance Survey maps of the area are also very useful for tracking the topographical changes to an area. These 25 inch to the mile maps show how Gartmore has changed between 1862 and 1914.

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Free access to digitised images of maps for the whole of Scotland from the earliest times is available on the National Library of Scotland website here.

Some estate collections also include plans of specific properties or areas. This plan is of Easter Gartfarren, part of the Gartmore Estate and shows land use as well as the position of farm buildings as they were in February 1930.

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Feuing plans are also useful in local history research, showing land marked into plots for building, and giving an insight into the way in which settlements have developed. The plan below shows feus at Gartmore in February 1912.

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Finally, plans lodged with the local authority as part of applications for Planning and building consents give details of the original features of a property and its boundaries. The plan below is of Westerthirds Farm in the Gartmore Estate in 1925.

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