BRINGING HISTORY ALIVE

The tithe maps follow old parish boundaries and most date from the 1840s.

The maps are usually large scale and vary in detail but generally show the boundaries of fields, woods, roads and rivers and the location of buildings.

You can also see whether there was a house on the site of your own home and what the land was used for.

Over 120 maps are available including parishes at Alfriston, Battle, Chailey, Dallington, Eastbourne, Frant, Glynde, Hastings (All Saints, St Clements, St Mary-in-the-Castle), Lewes, Maresfield, Newhaven, Peasmarsh, Rye (Foreign), Seaford, Ticehurst, Uckfield and Wadhurst.

Councillor Bob Tidy, Lead Member for Community Services, said: 'Thesecmaps really do bring history alive.

'They will be of interest to both family history enthusiasts and local historians who can increase their knowledge of their area. By providing these maps on CD, we are giving more people the opportunity to delve into the past without the need to travel to our Record Office in Lewes to do their research.'

The maps cost 10 plus 55p postage and packing. You can order them via the Council's web site at http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/archives.

The online information provides more detail about the maps, a directory of maps available and an online order form. These maps are also free to view on public computers at the County Council's Record Office.

People should note that not all East Sussex parishes are available.

Areas that were free of tithes, or where no crops were grown, were not mapped. Parish boundaries may be different now to when they were mapped and the best way to find out if a map exists is to check the directory of tithe maps available on the website.

Residents without access to a computer can use Internet computers for free in libraries - telephone your local library to book a session.

*Tithes were taxes paid to the local church, both in cash and 'in kind' (i.e. as produce of the land). In 1836 the Tithe Redemption Act converted all in kind payments into money payments. To help reassess the tithe payment for each piece of land, maps were drawn of the majority of parishes in East Sussex.

People paid one tenth of everything they produced. By the 19th century there was a great deal of resentment towards the payments, particularly from non-Anglicans, who still had to support the church even if they did not attend it. Tithes also discouraged farming improvements because if production went up, so did the payments.

Some payments did not even go to the church because the right to receive tithes in some areas had passed into the hands of local landowners. Tithes were finally abolished in 1936.