The West Yorkshire Archive Service have a new website, Tracks in Time, that lets you view old Tithe Maps of Leeds and the surrounding area against present-day maps of the same place. The website could be a bit easier to use, but basically if you go to the “Tithe Map Digital Resource” you can search for maps of your town/village etc and see them online.
It’s pretty cool – my only criticism is that the old maps are quite small and you have to zoom in to see the details. I also wonder if the resolution could be improved since when you zoom in the image is pretty pixellated – maybe this is something the Archive Service will improve. Anyhoo, I’ve been playing around with maps of Aberford and Boston Spa and it’s cool to see how the villages have changed in the last 100 years 
Thanks for this go to my mum who is something of a local historian and author (she wrote a history of Aberford School). You can also find her on Twitter (causing trouble no doubt!)
Thank you for your positive comments about the Leeds Tithe Map Digital Resource.
Since your blog was posted on November 3, a number of updates have been made to the resource. Some of these are cosmetic whilst others are more fundamental, such as the inclusion of more data and improving the way it functions. The version you will have seen was a prototype but we are now in a position where the online resource is more or less complete (there are still one or two tweaks to be made here and there).
In terms of the resolution of the tithe maps, many of the original plans are extremely large and so it is unavoidable that you have to zoom-in in order to see the intricate details. They have been scanned at a very high resolution (300dpi) but inevitably, at close quarters, there is a bit of pixellation on some of the maps. I would be interested to know how the website “could be a bit easier to use”, however, as we are always looking to improve the site and so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Peter Lythe,
Project Manager,
Tracks in Time: The Leeds Tithe Map Project.
Hi Peter
Thanks for your comments – I think it’s a really cool resource, especially since it’s available online for anyone to use.
When I said ‘it could be easier’ I was really talking about the menu system – the category names are a bit unclear. It might just be me, but when I hit the homepage it took me a few seconds to find where to search the maps – the link is called “Tithe Map Digital Resource”. Something like “see the maps here” might sound a bit obvious but…well…obvious is good!
Thank you for your reply.
Now that the Tithe Map Digital Resource has been launched, we are currently working our way through updating the content on the website to bring it up to date. I’ll certainly make sure that we include more links to the resource and clearer signposting of it. We’re also going to add a set of help slides to introduce people to the system and assist them in navigating its various tools and features. We are hoping to upload an online tutorial as well.
Obviously, we want to make sure that the system is as clear and user-friendly as possible so any further comments or suggestions you have to these ends will certainly be taken on board.
Kind regards,
Peter Lythe,
Project Manager,
Tracks in Time: The Leeds Tithe Map Project.
What a splendid series of maps. My great grandfather died in 1937 at ‘123 Beckett Street’, which turns out to be St James’s Hospital. I can see exactly how the hospital developed over time, & exactly where my ancestors used to live. The twinning facility is particularly good. Is it usd by other modern ‘mapmakers’?
Bravo!