Online archive gives bird’s eye view of city
Sunderland and Seaham feature in Historic England’s new online Aerial Photograph Explorer tool, giving the public access to more than 400,000 aerial photographs taken over the last 100 years.
The platform allows peopleimmediate digital access to Historic England’ s nationally important collection of aerial photographs.
Over 400,000 images from 1919 to the present day have been added to the tool, coveringnearly30%(c .15,000 square miles) of England, including major areas of the North East.
Images from the region include St James’ Park Football Stadium in Newcastle taken in 1927, ancient archaeology in Northumberland, industrial heritage in Sunderland and Middlesbrough, and the coastline at Seaham Harbour in County Durham and Saltburn, Teesside.
Aerial imagery provides a fascinating insight into the development and expansion of the nation’s urban centres and changes to the rural landscape.
It can also reveal striking discoveries, such as ‘cropmarks’ showing hidden, archaeologybeneath the surface.
By opening these images to the public through the accessible online tool, Historic England hopes to enable people to research their local areas, offeringan insight into a century of changes and development.
The Aerial Photography Explorer tool will also provide a useful resource for industry professionals and local authorities to help with planning, heritage projects and archaeological investigation.
On Wearside, images show an aerial view of the Souter Lighthouse and ship building in Sunderland, with a picture of th eM V An du lo, built by Bartram& Sons, probably taken to record its completion in May 1949.
In County Durham, there’s an image of Seaham Harbour taken by an RAF reconnaissance aircraft in 1941.
Around 300,000 of the photographs are the work of Historic England’ s Aerial Investigationand Mapping team.
Established in 1967, the team takes photographs of England from the air to discover new archaeological sites, create archaeological maps and monitor the condition of historic sites across the country.
The remaining 100,000 images come from the Historic England Archive aerial photography collection, which numbersover two million images in total, and includes important historic photography, including interwar and post-war images from Aerofilms Ltd and The Royal Air Force.
Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive, Historic England, said: “I am delighted that our new online tool will allow people easy access to our wonderful collection of aerial images and to enjoy the historic photography that our team uses every day to unlock the mysteries of England’s past.”
Nigel Huddleston MP, Minister for Heritage said "What better way to discover our shared history than through this fascinating new online tool which offers a bird' s eye view of our past. I can' t wait to discover more about my local area and encourage everyone to explore the thousands of English sites from the last century."
Historic England aims to expand the platform, as more of the six million aerial images in Historic England Archive are digitised.