Katy Swift

Hi, I’m Katy Swift, Project Manager for Hall Marks – the Long Shadows of Norfolk’s Lost Country Houses. I was drawn to this project by its potential to uncover “lost heritage” through archives, historic documents, and the stories they contain.

I’m passionate about Norfolk’s historic buildings, landscapes, and the fascinating histories preserved in maps, photographs, objects, and documents. Many former country estates left behind rich archival traces, and thanks to National Lottery Heritage Fund support, we’ll be using these collections to help people explore Norfolk’s past in new ways.

As part of the project, we’ll be digitising fragile materials—including tithe maps from the 1830s and 40s and their apportionments—and preserving at‑risk oral history recordings from those who worked in country houses. We’re also redeveloping the Norfolk Historic Map Explorer, adding missing maps and improving tools for comparing historic and modern landscapes. An exhibition at the Norfolk Record Office will bring original materials together for public display.

Community involvement is at the heart of Hall Marks. We’ll be recruiting volunteers to help transcribe over half a million tithe apportionment entries and write blogs about Norfolk’s lost houses. Opportunities will be available onsite in Norwich and online. We’ll also deliver sessions across Norfolk on researching house and family history, plus workshops inspired by the Five Ways to Wellbeing framework for those wanting a deeper dive into the county’s lost estates.

There are many ways to get involved, and plenty of activity ahead for our project team! To stay updated on Hall Marks events and opportunities, subscribe to the Norfolk Record Office Mailing List, follow our Social Media, or find all the key information on the project on our webpage.

Andrew Tullett

Hello. I’m Andrew, the Archive Project Officer for the Hall Marks project. I’m currently surrounded by archive maps, house sale catalogues and census returns (I’m in my element!) while I put together the details for two of the event programmes Hall Marks will be delivering in 2026: ‘Discovering lost house histories’ and ‘Research your family or house history – for FREE’.

Discovering lost house histories will be a new series of six sessions to help participants start their local history research journey. It will use case-studies of demolished country houses and their estates in Norfolk to show how archives can give answers to heritage questions. The programme is being developed to incorporate the ethos of ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ and will include a range of activities to keep the programme engaging. The programme will be hosted in Gorleston, Norwich and King’s Lynn.

Research your family or house history – for FREE is being designed for beginners. It will consist of a half-hour talk on the basics of family and house history followed by optional half-hour bookable one-to-one sessions. It will introduce the main sources of information that genealogists and house historians rely on and explain how many of them can be accessed at no cost using archives that can be viewed online or in person. These events will be taking place at libraries all over the county. Follow NRO’s Eventbrite for updates.

I’m looking forward to working with the groups of volunteers who will be transcribing the tithe map apportionments and writing blogs for the project. I’m particularly excited by a collaboration with Picture Norfolk. They have a huge archive of historic images, only a small proportion of which have been digitised. We will be recruiting volunteers to investigate the collection to see how many new images of Norfolk’s lost country houses we can discover.

Fancy a rummage? Come join us!

Anna Freed

Hi, I’m Anna (she/her), the Archive Project Assistant for Hall Marks. I am going to be working on the transcription of the tithe apportionments (see my blog post: ‘What is a tithe apportionment?’), digitising and editing tithe maps for a revamped version of the Historic Map Explorer, as well as helping Andrew during our workshops.

My main role on Hall Marks is working with in-person and remote volunteers to transcribe the names and places in the tithe apportionments – all 700 of them! – to allow people to keyword search for names in our catalogue and find new records of their ancestors, for free. We’re also starting the project with two other volunteering programmes: you can work with Andrew on this blog, or at the Heritage Centre in the Millennium Library looking through the thousands of photos that haven’t been digitised yet.

I love local and genealogical history, after doing research to debunk some tall tales from my grandfather about the origin of my surname and his home village of Swanscombe (of Swanscombe woman fame). Last year I got to work on the Lost+Found Exhibition, looking at the local history of Deptford and Lewisham, where my maternal grandfather’s Irish Traveller family settled at the turn of the century. I am excited to make similar research more accessible for everyone who traces their histories back to Norfolk (or the traditionally Suffolk parishes that Norfolk has adopted more recently!)

If you think you’d be interested in volunteering on this part of the project (you can ask to look at your local area if it hasn’t been done already!) you can find out more and express your interest by emailing hallmarks@norfolk.gov.uk

Hall Marks is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players. Thanks also to NAHRG and NorAH for their funding support.