Survey reveals we're a nation obsessed with maps
Release Date: 3 May 2007
A recent survey has revealed that we are a nation of map lovers with three out of four people admitting they love looking at maps in their spare time.
The survey, commissioned by Old-maps.co.uk, also revealed that where we're from and what was here before us sparks more than a little interest, with the majority of people keen to find out the history of their home.
Two thirds of people are interested in finding out what was on the land before their house was built and 69 per cent would like to know where their great-grandparents came from, suggesting that a genuine interest in family geography is becoming increasingly popular.
The Old-maps.co.uk survey also revealed a number of regional variances. Londoners know the least about where they live, with the Scottish most interested to learn about their house history. The Scots also have the best knowledge about their family history location, with almost three quarters knowing where their great-grandparents grew up, compared to just 37 per cent in some areas of England.
Historian and BBC's 'Who do you think you are?' expert, Nick Barratt, commented: "These findings underline a growing desire to find out more about our roots - not just the people we are related to, but the places we came from and the communities in which we lived. This fascination with our ancestral and current houses shows that personal heritage is taking over from family history as the new way of understanding the world around us."
Location is also a strong factor of family history, with 70 per cent saying that their 'house' most represents a 'sense of family', highlighting that, as adults, we retain a connection with our childhood home or the place where we grew up - the security, familiarity and happy memories associated with where we spent time as a family.
The desire to know more about the site history of your house was strongest among the younger population with 70 per cent of 16-24 year olds eager to find out more.
This may be because it is much harder to afford to buy or rent a house, and so people tend to spend longer in the parental home - creating longer and more lasting bonds that often turn into a deeper curiosity about the house.
Women are more curious about family location than men, with almost 69 per cent interested to know where their previous generations are from, compared to just 50 per cent of men; similarly over 71 per cent of women would also like to find out what was on the land before their home, compared to just 55 per cent of men.
Stephen Stout, Group Managing Director of the UK's leading digital mapping company, Landmark Information Group, which runs Old-maps.co.uk, commented: "There is definitely an increasing interest in both current and historic mapping. And with people's rising curiosity in not just family history, but house history, mapping is becoming the next big thing - so perhaps it's becoming less 'who do you think you are?' and more 'where do you think you are'."
Old-maps.co.uk, a historic map archive of mainland Great Britain, provides digitalised Ordnance Survey maps dating back to 1840 - available in either 1:2,500 or 1:10,560 scales. Every image is accurately positioned against modern geography, to allow searches by address, place or grid reference, and prices range from £10 to £40. Images can either be received electronically within an hour or framed and posted within 48 hours.
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