Crown plans are mostly survey drawings illustrating the land boundaries and physical features of specific parcels of land 
and may include references to early tenures and ownership of the land. The plans date back to 1792 and earlier. Over 40% are still current and provide the survey diagram for a title. The remainder have been replaced by Deposited plans and Strata plans but are of historical interest and the basis of all later plans.
How can these records help?
The Parish map helps you find the Crown plan which has survey details and land dimensions and size. Often the plan will show physical features, neighbouring owners, Government Gazette references and other particulars regarding the land which can help understand the history of a parcel of land.
If the Crown plan is current it provides the current legal boundaries of the land.
Accessing records
Free public access
Plans that have been imaged in colour can be viewed free at public terminals at State Records Kingswood and The Rocks.
Crown plans are not available through public terminals at the State Library and not at LPI Queens Square.
Records for purchase
Crown plans, imaged in colour and those still in black and white, can be purchased through the Online Shop, over the counter at LPI Queens Square or through approved Information Brokers.
Exception
There are 6,508 Crown plans listed on the State Records website not available for viewing at public terminals or for purchase through the Online Shop.
These plans may be examined on aperture cards in State Records’ reading rooms at The Rocks and Kingswood.
Identifying records
Crown plans have an identification number which is typically in the format NNNN-nnnn The second number, also known as the small number, represents the plan series and the first, or large number, is allocated sequentially within the series. For example, plans with the small number 1603 are road plans. To find the number, a common starting point is a Parish map, accessible free through the Historical Land Records Viewer (Pixel).
Before leaving home
Look for the Crown plan number on the Parish map using Historical Land Records Viewer (Pixel).
The majority of Crown Plans will be available online. There may be some instances where the record is not available online as the Crown Plan scanning project remains in progress and is due for completion in 2013. The project is now conserving and scanning the larger-format plans, which take more time than the smaller plans because a high level of conservation is required
