Welcome to the
Historic Towns Trust
The Historic Towns Trust is a charity which investigates the histories of towns in England, Scotland, and Wales, and communicates this through the publication of atlases and maps, and through educational and outreach activities.
In partnership with local historians, geographers, and archaeologists, we research how and why our settlements developed in the way they did. We publish the results in volumes of the British Historic Towns Atlas, and historical maps in the Town & City Historical Maps series.
Our atlases and historical maps are part of an international programme with the highest scholarly standards. They promote greater understanding and sharing of our urban past. They are used by individuals, in schools and universities, and by community groups. They support the many people interested in their history. And they promote the awareness needed for restoration, sympathetic new development and urban regeneration.
Since our foundation, we have covered a range of towns and cities. Our ambition is to have a representative national coverage that will provide at least one volume of the British Historic Towns Atlas for every historic county or regional authority in Britain by 2050.
We have an educational remit and we pass on the knowledge we have assembled about Britain’s urban past to help people use it to shape their cities and towns for the future.
We hope that you will find what we do exciting and interesting!
The History of British Towns
Atlas volumes I-III covered a range of British towns.
Maps and contents from these volumes are available for free download from this site.