diff --git a/Code/Mantid/Framework/Kernel/inc/MantidKernel/HDFDescriptor.h b/Code/Mantid/Framework/Kernel/inc/MantidKernel/HDFDescriptor.h
index dc7fe15b9786f55bbbcbcab08ecc2004ae15c03b..ee3c38bd8692466b1afb7215055bc61089e57d59 100644
--- a/Code/Mantid/Framework/Kernel/inc/MantidKernel/HDFDescriptor.h
+++ b/Code/Mantid/Framework/Kernel/inc/MantidKernel/HDFDescriptor.h
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ namespace Mantid
       bool pathExists(const std::string& path) const;
       /// Query if a path exists of a given type
       bool pathOfTypeExists(const std::string& path, const std::string &type) const;
+      /// return the path of a given type
+      std::string pathOfType(const std::string & type);
       /// Query if a given type exists somewhere in the file
       bool classTypeExists(const std::string & classType) const;
 
diff --git a/Code/Mantid/Framework/Kernel/src/HDFDescriptor.cpp b/Code/Mantid/Framework/Kernel/src/HDFDescriptor.cpp
index a4901a0fc8675d18e6cb833eaecb899fbe63b8fe..507dba7c31a14982253eba13e2746bf5d735f7b6 100644
--- a/Code/Mantid/Framework/Kernel/src/HDFDescriptor.cpp
+++ b/Code/Mantid/Framework/Kernel/src/HDFDescriptor.cpp
@@ -165,6 +165,20 @@ namespace Mantid
       else return false;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @param type A string specifying the required type
+     * @return path A string giving a path using UNIX-style path separators (/), e.g. /raw_data_1, /entry/bank1
+     */
+	std::string HDFDescriptor::pathOfType(const std::string & type) {
+		auto iend = m_pathsToTypes.end();
+		for (auto it = m_pathsToTypes.begin(); it != iend; ++it) {
+			if (type == it->second)
+				return  it->first;
+		}
+		return  "";
+	}
+
+
     /**
      * @param classType A string name giving a class type
      * @return True if the type exists in the file, false otherwise