Expert’s Choice
Karen Averby is a buildings historian and co-hosts #HouseHistoryHour on Twitter
One of my favourite online sources of historic images for house history is Historic England’s site
England’s Places ( historicengland.org.uk/imagesbooks/photos/englands-places), an enjoyably absorbing wholly digitised and searchable photographic collection. The images date from the 1850s to the 1990s and comprise street scenes, village and townscapes, and exterior and sometimes interior views of individual buildings. Often referred to as the ‘Architectural Red Box Collection’, the originals were, not unsurprisingly, stored in red boxes in Historic England’s archive.
The collection originated in 1941 when the National Buildings Record began to document built heritage. Subsequent additions to the core of 1930s photographs include a variety of images from both commercial and amateur photographers, lending the collection a wonderfully eclectic air.
An especially endearing feature of this digitised version is its replication of the physical experience of looking through the red boxes – as far as is possible – which many may fondly remember doing in person at the Swindon searchroom. Simply search by place name, and virtually ‘open’ a box to browse a clickable gallery displaying cards with images affixed. Clicking on an image reveals the handwritten details on the reverse, such as building name, date and photographer. Happily, there are zoom and rotate options too.
Looking through the images one by one is a fascinating process, made all the more enjoyable if your house or street pops up. Even if the house you are researching is not included, the views of streets and buildings in the area you are looking at offer glimpses into the past, literally snapshots in time, thereby providing a wider visual context for your investigations.