Sharon lives in Tolland in West Somerset bordering Exmoor. She was trained as an illustrator, and her husband David is a Graphic Designer.
She moved to the area in 2016 and fell in love with the undulating landscape relatively unchanged for 100s of years.
She decided to research her house history as unbeknown to her the house had originally been called Burts Farm, Burts Cottage and prior to that Burts Tenement.

As Sharon’s surname is Birt, she knew she had to change the name back to its original and in doing so she delved into the house history.
During these sessions at the record office and several courses on House History and Old Maps, she discovered the old Tithe map for her parish.
She has always had an interest in local history and old maps, but never really knew the existence of tithe maps. They are such a wealth of information and some so beautifully drawn that the idea came to her to reproduce her parish tithe map and add all the field names which accompany it.
It was quite a task and a real achievement, and most of her village now own a copy.

It was one of those light bulb moments when she realised that so many other landowners, farmers and property owners would be interested in seeing their own parish map with all the old field names added and how the land used to be in 1837.

Sharon and David are both creative people and crafting a unique map using the original and both of their skills is a rewarding experience, It also feeds Sharons passion for all things historical!

The seed was sown for YOUR FORGOTTEN FIELDS