Legal firm donates precious findings to archives at Christmas
Leading local legal firm has unearthed pieces of Angus history dating back to 1750 while carrying out maintenance in its Forfar office.
Staff at Thorntons discovered more than 100 paper plans and ancient Ordnance Survey estate maps chronicling local history.
They contacted Angus Council archivist Craig Pearson who was yesterday presented with the plans at the firm's East High Street office.
Covering the period 1750 to 1910, highlights of the discoveries include a map of the roads of Kirriemuir, Southmuir and Northmuir, a book of reference of the Forfar and Brechin Railway of 1899, four plans of the Scottish Midland Junction Railway with branches and extensions from Perth to Montrose.
Angus archivist Mr Craig Pearson said: "This is a marvellous Christmas present from Thorntons.
"We do not have many estate maps going back so far, so it is fantastic that Thorntons got in touch and were kind enough to hand over the precious findings which are such a valuable link to our past.
"We will no doubt distribute the OS maps around the area's local libraries to bring their records up to date."
Chris Lindley, Associate at Thorntons said: "We were carrying out maintenance work in the building and were so surprised when we first discovered the old fragile plans – we were even more surprised to discover how far they dated back.
"We are delighted to present the plans to Angus Council and hope they add a little more to the proud history of the community."
Issued by Beattie Communications on behalf of Thorntons Solicitors.
Contact: Kimberley Hamilton, Tel 01698 787878