A new tool will enable users to make a flying visit to North East locations as they were up to a century ago .
Historic England has launched its new Aerial Photography Explorer, which for the first time allows people to search and explore an online map showing aerial photographs of the North East and England taken over the past 100 years.
Aerial imagery provides a fascinating insight into the development and expansion of the urban centres, changes to the rural landscape and evidence of ancient settlements., including cropmark patterns of hidden, archaeology beneath the surface. Over 400,000 images from 1919 to the present day have been added to the tool.
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In the North East they include a picture of Newcastle United’s St James Park in 1927, when the club won its last league championship title. The title-winning side was captained by centre forward Hughie Gallacher, who scored 39 goals in that season and more than 140 all told for United.
Sunderland were one of the main rivals for the title and the home crunch game against the Wearsiders on March 19 attracted a then record crowd of 67,067. Newcastle won 1-0.
An image taken by an RAF reconnaissance aircraft in 1941 shows Seaham Harbour in County Durham, while a scene from Sunderland’s booming shipbuilding industry also features. The Sunderland picture shows the MV Andulo, which was built by Bartram & Sons, and was probably taken to record its completion in May 1949.
Another aerial view shows the Iron Age hillfort at West Hills, near Thropton in Northumberland, adjacent to a modern farm, showing the continuity of settlement over many centuries at this location. West Hills, with its ramparts, is one of several hillforts overlooking the River Coquet.
Also featured is the complex of Roman camps at remote Chew Green, near Alwinton in Northumberland. The site includes the overlapping remains of two temporary camps, two fortlets and a fort, indicating that this location was adapted and reoccupied by the Roman army over a number of years.
Chew Green was next to Dere Street, the Roman road which ran from York (Eboracum) to Hadrian’s Wall and beyond into Scotland.
Around 300,000 of the photographs are the work of Historic England’s Aerial Investigation and 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 numbers over two million images in total, and includes important historic photography, including interwar and post-war images from Aerofilms Ltd and the RAF. By opening up these images to the public through this accessible online tool, Historic England hopes that people will use it to research their local areas, offering an insight into a century of changes and development.
This will allow them potentially to make their own discoveries about their local areas. It will also provide industry professionals and local authorities with a useful resource to help planning, heritage projects and archaeological investigation.
Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said “I am delighted that our new online tool will allow people to access easily our wonderful collection of aerial images and enjoy the historic photography that our team uses every day to unlock the mysteries of England’s past.”
Over the coming years, Historic England aims to expand the platform, as more of the six million aerial images in Historic England Archive are digitised. To search the platform, visit: https://HistoricEngland.org.uk/AerialPhotos.
