Author: Past Perfect on behalf of Durham & Northumberland Councils

Link: www.keystothepast.info/k2p/usp.nsf/pws/Keys+to+the+Past+-+Home+Page

Editors Review:

The Keys to the Past; is a new and exciting Heritage Lottery Funded project which unlocks the archaeological secrets of County Durham and Northumberland.  This site provides access to a complete record of the archaeology of the two counties, from the smallest prehistoric flint to the largest medieval castle.  The site is continually updated with new information and images.

There is a search facility, which has a simple and advanced search.  What can be very useful for the family historian is you can search this facility by surname with sometimes interesting results.  For example the surname Raine produced 48 results.  These included Monumental Inscriptions and photographs of some of the gravestones. The weakness of the search was a James Raine was secretary of the Surtees society and author of “The History and Antiquities of North Durham” published in 1852 and accounted for most of the surname Raine that appeared in the results.

The Local History link is very useful to those searching for background information to the history of villages and towns in the North East.  The history available fora village or parish runs from earliest times to the present day.  Another useful tool on this link is the map sites that give both present day and a map of the area in 1865. This is very useful in locating your ancestors abode especially when the area has been transformed from rural to an urban setting. It provides links to sites of historical interest and these are divided into four sections including Anglo Saxon and Medieval.