Fragile county maps put on to CD

The maps are used for a variety of purposes

Historic maps of Cornwall are to be reproduced on CD by the county council in a bid to preserve them.

The maps at the Record Office have become very fragile from years of use.

The parish and town tithe maps and accompanying survey books of circa 1840 provide an insight into land use and ownership in the 19th Century.

They are used by the public, local authority staff, and people researching family history or planning applications and rights of way queries.

Eric Brooke from Cornwall County Council said: "In order to preserve the documents and improve access to them, we have undertaken a pilot project to digitise 10% of the 250 maps and survey books.

"We hope to obtain further support in order to digitise a third of the collection by the end of 2008. The maps are very popular and I hope, now that some of them are available on CDRom, even more people will enjoy this valuable resource."

The Record Office is now looking for volunteers to become involved in the next stage of the project to transcribe survey books into a searchable electronic format.