HERITAGE buffs in Thornbury are appealing for help in tracing the history of some of the town's oldest buildings - and the people who've lived in them down the ages.

"We're starting work on building up a database and map which would lead to a better knowledge of Thornbury's social history," said Meg Wise, research group co-ordinator at the town's museum in Chapel Street.

"We're focusing on the older parts of the town, starting with Castle Street, and we'd love to hear from residents past and present, especially those who've done research into the history of their home or who may have interesting old deeds or photographs.

"It would be really great if we could find someone in Castle Stteet who still has an underground water storage reservoir, for instance. But we'd be interested to talk to anyone with any knowledge of how the houses used to be."

The researchers are aiming to identify properties and link them with families using resources like censuses, indentures and wills and the 1841 tithe map and apportionment.

Although we're starting with Castle Street we'd appreciate help from people living in other older parts of Thornbury," said Meg. "If they have researched the history of their house then we'd really like to have a copy of the results. Eventually, other streets will be investigated and research already completed will be invaluable.

Homeowners themselves would be very welcome to join in the research at the museum, she said, and would be given access to all the information found.

"The research group already helps many people with their local family history enquiries and we may have details of families that used to live in the street but moved away many years ago," said Meg.

Meanwhile, the museum is currently hosting a new exhibition, produced by the South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group, featuring the mining history of the area and the extraction of various deposits such as coal, lead, iron ore and celestine and the quarrying of stone.

Said Meg: "It's a fascinating subject. There's a legend that the spire of Almondsbury Church is clad in local lead. It's matter that has been investigated and I recommend people to come along to see what was found out about it."

The exhibition runs until May. The museum is open Tuesday to Thursday (1-4 pm) and on Saturdays (10am-4pm). Admission is free.

Anyone interested in the Castle Street project should call in at the museum, ring Meg Wise on 01454 885087 or write to Thornbury and District Heritage Trust Research Group, c/o The Town Hall, High Street, Thornbury, BS35 2AR.