Three old maps of Addingham village have been preserved for posterity.

The relics of village history have been handed to Bradford District Archives service for professional restoration and storage.

The three maps in question are the Addingham Township Map of 1817, the Tithe Award Map of 1843 and the Enclosure Map of 1817.

The 1817 map is the earliest large-scale map of the parish and, according to local historian Arnold Pacey, was drawn by Samual Swire, a well-known surveyor in the Skipton area. It was drawn to assess how much local people should pay in rates which were levied on buildings and land.

The proceeds were largely spent by the Overseers of the Poor, the Constable and perhaps in the upkeep of highways.

The maps, once stored in a cupboard in the Parish Council rooms in the Old Schoolhouse, Main Street, are now in the keeping of the Archive Service, where scholars can use them for research. Parish Councillors were worried that if the maps were left where they were they would deteriorate further. Members agreed to pay for a photograph to be taken of the 1817 map so it could be put on display at the old schoolhouse where villagers can see it.

Vice-chairman John Baggaley said: "The Parish Council felt that this is such an important map that we would arrange for the central portion showing Main Street and the properties on both sides of it to be put on view in the village."

Every property is numbered on the map but hardly anything is marked by name.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.