This section of the website contains abstracts from the Field Books compiled for the Valuation Office survey from 1910 to 1915. This page provides detailed explanatory notes about the contents of the Field Books, and the abstracts I have produced.

Most if not all of the Field Book entries appear to date from 1910 itself (certainly they seem to pre-date the 1911 census), but updates or corrections (typically added in pencil) from later years (i.e. through to 1915) also appear. Typically those updates provided more accurate measurements of the extent of the land in question (many of the original entries were rough estimates), or noted changes of occupancy. Four printed pages (two double-page spreads) were provided for each property, to gather a range of information in a standardised manner.

Details of the information required and (mostly) recorded, of those elements of that data I have abstracted (or ignored), and of the ways in which my abstracts may differ from the original entries, are as follows.

Assessment Number: Each property surveyed and valued in this survey was given a number, corresponding to that in the ‘master’ Valuation Book. Those in the parish of Waters Upton were, as noted on my page for the Valuation Book (which serves as an index to the Field Book entries in this section), numbered from 565 to 642.

Reference No.: No entries were made for this item so it is not included in my abstracts.

Map No.: In most cases (including for the area in which Waters Upton is located), the most recently published Ordnance Survey 25 inch (to the mile) scale map sheets were used as the basis for mapping the boundaries of each area of land included in the valuation survey. Waters Upton parish was divided between four of these maps (links below take you to digitised copies of the OS maps – not the Valuation Survey copies of them – on the National Library of Scotland website):

Shropshire XXIX.8 (revised 1900 and published 1901) covered the village of Waters Upton and those parts of the parish to the West and North of it (with a little of the land immediately South-east of the village).

Shropshire XXX.5 (revised 1900 and published 1902) covered land immediately to the East of the above map, including the Harebutts, part of Catsbritch Lane, and the Northernmost buildings at The Terrill in Waters Upton parish.

Shropshire XXX.9 (revised 1900 and published 1902) covered land immediately to the South of the previous map including a small part of Waters Upton parish. The Easternmost part of Catsbritch Lane, and most of The Terrill, is shown on this map.

Shropshire XXIX.12 (revised 1900 and published 1901) only covered a very small part of Waters Upton parish, immediately to the West of the previous map and South of the first map listed above. None of the parish’s buildings appeared on this map.

I have not included the map numbers in my abstracts.

Situation: Entries here varied considerably, from a simple “Waters Upton” to a specific address (e.g. “22 Hodnet Road, Waters Upton”), with a number of other formats mentioning the names of the parish’s hamlets, lanes, field names, etc. I have for the most part transcribed these as they were originally written.

Description: Examples of the entries made here include “Cottage and Garden”, “Gdn. Cott. & bldgs.”, “Gdn. Hse. & Privy”, “land”, “C & G”, “turf”, “Dwellinghouse and Stable”, and “Pasture land”. In my abstracts I have given words in full rather than using abbreviated versions, and have standardised capitalisations of words.

[Where an assessment included a house, cottage or other form of habitation, I have added here an entry giving the present day name and/or number. If the residence has not survived (and not been replaced by another building in the same location with the same address), what the name and/or number was before it was demolished.]

Extent: Often, two entries were made here: an initial estimate and a later, more precise measurement. Assessment number 570, for example, has “A 10 . 3 . 0” followed by “10. 2. 33.” with ‘A’, ‘R’ and ‘P’ (for Acres, Roods and Perches) written above. Where two measurements were given like this, I have used the later version and presented the measurement (using that from 570 as an example) in the format 10a 2r 33p.

Gross Value: A valuation in pounds, shillings and pence was required here for the buildings and/or the land included in the assessment. Where both land and buildings were included, the valuation was written across the lines for each of those items making it clear that it applied to both combined. Where there was land with no buildings, the valuation was sometimes (as was the case in 570) written only on the relevant line. There are however many examples of the valuation being written across both lines when no buildings were present. My abstracts follow the format “Gross Value (land and buildings)” or “Gross Value (land)” according to the entries made (even where it is clear that “land and buildings” should really be “land”). As for the valuations, I have for clarity presented the sums involved in the format (again using 570 as an example here) £16 10s 0d.

Rateable Value: A valuation was required here in the same way as for Gross Value, with entries being made (and my abstracts of them being presented) in the same ways.

Gross Annual Value, Schedule A: No entries were made for this item so it is not included in my abstracts.

Occupier: The name of the occupier, sometimes with a title (such as Mrs. or Rev., typically after the name and in brackets), and often with forenames abbreviated, was given here. I have transcribed the names as they were written, but placed any titles before the names.

Owner: The name of the landowner was provided here in similar fashion, along with their address. I have transcribed both names and addresses as written, but have omitted ‘Salop’ from addresses in Shropshire. Many entries here refer to previous Assessment Numbers (e.g., “See No 574”) I have transcribed that but added a copy of the entry made under that number in [square brackets].

Where the owner was also the occupier, this was made clear by the way in which the entries were written. In my abstracts for these cases, instead of separate entries for Occupier and Owner, there is a single entry for “Occupier and Owner”.

Interest of Owner: Almost invariably, if there was an entry here it stated “freehold” (in my abstracts, the word is capitalised).

Superior interests: This was rarely completed. In cases where an entry was made here, I have included it in brackets after the entry for Owner or Occupier and Owner.

Subordinate interests: I have not found any entries written here so have omitted this item from my abstracts.

Occupier’s tenancy, […]: This sought information on the term of the tenancy, when the tenancy started, and how it was determinable. If there was an occupier who was not also the owner, I have included this item (and any information entered) immediately after the entry for ‘Occupier’.

Actual (or Estimated) Rent: In cases where the owner was also the occupier, the word ‘Actual’ was usually crossed through and in my abstract this item is “Estimated Rent”. Oddly, where there was an occupier, who would have paid rent, the words “or Estimated” are rarely if ever crossed through; in my abstracts this item is “Actual / Estimated Rent”. Any figures given here are, as with Gross Value and Rateable Value above, given in the format (using 593 as an example) £33 5s 0d.

[Any other Consideration paid; Outgoings—Land Tax (how much and who paid by), Tithe (ditto), Other Outgoings; Who pays (a) Rates and Taxes (b) Insurance; Who is liable for repairs; Fixed Charges, Easements, Common Rights and Restrictions: I have not abstracted any of the information from these items.]

Former Sales: This section asked for information on former sales of the land being valued: Dates, Interest, Consideration (i.e. amounts paid), plus any Subsequent Expenditure. It was completed only in a minority of cases, and rarely if ever in full, but if information was provided here I have abstracted the details (though not, in most cases, those relating to Subsequent Expenditure).

[Owner’s Estimate (Gross Value, Full Site Value, Total Value, Assessable Site Value); Site Value Deductions claimed; Roads and Sewers (Dates of Expenditure, Amounts): In almost all cases, no information was provided for any of these items; I have not included them in my abstracts.]

Particulars, description, and notes made on inspection: Entries made under this heading ranged from nothing at all, to brief notes on the nature of the land (e.g. “Arable land”) or repetition of elements of the Description, to comments on the state of the buildings (e.g. “V poor old Cottage. Hardly habitable.”), more detailed information, and in a few cases, descriptions of buildings (when several were included in the site being valued, and the space for describing them on the following page was insufficient). In most cases I have transcribed the information as written.

Charges, Easements and Restrictions affecting market value of Fee Simple: Entries here, when made, mostly related to Tithe charges, or the rights of neighbours to access water (from pumps situated on the property). These entries I have largely transcribed as written, but with some paraphrasing and standardisation of wording applied.

Valuation: I have pared down the elements of this section, omitting any notes or calculations made as part of the valuation process, and the initial “Market Value of Fee Simple in possession of whole property in its present condition”,  giving the sums recorded for the following items (under abbreviated headings):

Deduct Market Value of Site under similar circumstances, but if divested of structures, timber, fruit trees, and other things growing on the land [abbreviated to Land]

Difference Balance, being portion of market value attributable to structures, timber, &c [omitted]
Divided as follows:— [these words, and any of the following for which no value was recorded, omitted]
Buildings and Structures
Machinery [no instances of values given under this heading for any properties in Waters Upton parish]
Timber
Fruit Trees [if the number of trees was given I have transcribed it]
Other things growing on the land [if the nature of those things was stated, i.e. Hedges, or Fences, I have transcribed that information]
[In cases where a combined value for two of the above items – typically Fruit Trees and Other things growing on the land – was given, I have combined the item descriptions.]

Market Value of Fee Simple of Whole in its present condition (as before) [abbreviated to Market Value of Whole]

Add for Additional Value represented by any of the following for which any deduction may have been made when arriving at Market Value:— [abbreviated to “Additional Value (items deducted when arriving at valuation)”; any of the following for which no value was recorded omitted]
Charges (excluding Land Tax) [If this item applied it was always due to a Tithe charge; entered in the standard format: Charges (Tithe) £{value}.]
Restrictions [If applicable, entered in the format: Restrictions ({nature of restrictions, e.g. footpaths, or right of way}) £{value}.]

Gross Value [Heading and sum transcribed as per original]

Description of Buildings: This was one of the column headings for a table, the other headings of which were Index Letter; Dimensions (Frontage, Depth, Height); Cubical Contents; Condition; and Remarks. These headings were however ignored and although there were variations in the way in which information was recorded here, for the most part the following format applied.

First, the house (or cottage, etc) was described – the building materials (most often brick and tile) were noted, and the rooms were listed; abbreviations were frequent but in my abstracts I have used the full words that were intended and standardised the capitalisation. For the very small number of larger houses, additional details were given (e.g. the presence of oil lamps, heating, notes on water and drainage) – where provided, I have abstracted such information.

Next, other buildings (such as earth closets and pig pens) were described, with building materials noted for some, or all – where materials are not given immediately after a structure, it is difficult to be certain which were used and I have not attempted to guess; I have listed the materials in brackets after each structure for which materials are given. As with the main house, cottage etc, I have expanded abbreviations (e.g. E C = Earth Closet) and standardised the capitalisation.

In a few cases, more than one house was described (the information given sometimes overlapping with that given under separate Assessment Numbers for the additional residences). Where this was so, I have given a Description of Buildings for each, and (hopefully) made it clear which description applies to which house.

Notes relating to water supply are often included at the end of this section and where present I have abstracted the information given.

Ord Nos: For most assessments, information is recorded under the following three headings Ord Nos, Description, and Acreage. ‘Ord Nos’ refers to Ordnance Survey field parcel numbers, which were shown on County Series maps (along with the acreage for each one, in decimal format). Each number related to one or more fields and/or other discrete pieces of land with clear boundaries (e.g. buildings, gardens, woods, stretches of road or river). Those field parcel numbers which fell wholly or partly within an assessment number’s site were recorded, some (typically those containing buildings) with a description, along with the acreage (copied from the relevant map, and then converted into acres, roods and perches). Under “Ord Numbers” I have listed any field parcel numbers recorded, with any descriptions given shown in brackets. In addition, I have added in [square brackets] links to the relevant view or views of OS 25 inch mapping on the National Library of Scotland website (where separate maps at this scale have been ‘stitched together’ to provide a single ‘seamless’ map). Where the field parcels are spread over a large area, I have given several links. And where there may be confusion as to which building in a field parcel is the relevant one, my link goes to a version of the relevant mapping view with a ‘pin’ displayed.

[Additional breakdown of site valuation: The fourth page of each site assessment provides for a more detailed breakdown of the site’s valuation. However, at least in the case of Waters Upton, this simply repeats information already recorded and arrives at an Assessable Site Value which is the same as the value previously given for “Deduct Market Value of Site under similar circumstances, but if divested of structures, timber, fruit trees, and other things growing on the land”. I have therefore omitted this section from my abstracts.]

If Agricultural land, the value for Agricultural purposes […]: The value of agricultural land in an assessment site, including or excluding Sporting Rights was recorded. The Value of Sporting Rights so included or excluded was to be recorded separately, but this was not always done. Under “If Agricultural land, value for Agricultural purposes” I have provided the value recorded and indicated in brackets whether that value included or excluded Sporting Rights, adding the value of those rights if that information was recorded in the Field Book.

And finally…

Across the various categories of information in my Field Book abstracts I have:

• For any item where no information was recorded in the Field Book entry, indicated this with an em dash (—).

• Where entries for an Assessment Number are truncated because that Assessment Number is included within another, omitted the remaining items for which there is no information and added [No further info].

• Indicated any words or numbers that I cannot read as [?], or any that I am doubtful about in the format [word ?]. Corrections to information recorded in the Field Book entries which I know to be wrong (e.g. names) are added after the wording in question, in the format [= correct wording]. Similarly, any additional notes from me by way of comment, explanation etc is also given in square brackets.

Steve Jackson, 17 August 2024.

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