Historic England launches virtual aerial map online
Half a million aerial photographs of England’s archaeological sites are now available to view in a new online map.
Historic England has published over 30 years of its aerial photographs on a map covering over half of England ( historicengland.org.uk/research/results/aerial-archaeology-mapping-explorer).
The map contains thousands of locations that have been identified on aerial photos and from imagery that was derived from airborne laser scanning, also known as LiDAR data.
The included sites range from 6,000-yearold long barrows, flint mines and causewayed enclosures of the Early Neolithic period to military installations used in the Cold War.
Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said, “This new aerial archaeology mapping tool lets people fly virtually over England and drink in its many layers of history. It will allow everyone to explore the hidden heritage of their local places and what makes them special. We hope it will give people a springboard to further investigation, whether for research purposes or simply to satisfy curiosity about what archaeological features they may have noticed around their local area.”
The map shows project areas where mapping data exists highlighted in red. Clicking on them allows users to download a free publication highlighting local archaeological discoveries.
Zooming in on the map then shows monument extents highlighted in grey. Clicking on these leads to the ‘Heritage Gateway’ where users can view the full archaeological record. Zooming in then reveals a detailed map of the features.
For example, the map includes LiDAR data of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. The aerial survey revealed a prehistoric hill fort, medieval land management, coal mining, and the remains of First World War training camps.
The map also reveals more extensive historical settlement around Hadrian’s Wall in Cumbria, from Roman roads, forts and camps to military infrastructure built in the Second World War.