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Finding Aids for Historic Images of Buildings in the UK and Ireland

• Barley, M.M., A Guide to British Topographical Collections (1974). This valuable book describes local and national collections of topographical drawings, watercolours, prints and photographs in England, Scotland and Wales. It is now dated, so repository locations in some cases have changed.
• British Library, British Topographical Views: an annotated bibliography of bibliographies (pdf). Lists a variety of sources for the British Isles as a whole, and then by region.
• A Complete List of the Plates and Wood-Cuts in the Gentleman's Magazine from ... 1717 to 1818 (1821).
• Country Life Cumulative Index lists all Country Life articles on country houses and gardens since 1897. New editions appear periodically. And see below under 19th century.
• Harris, J., The Artist and the Country House: a history of country house and garden view painting in Britain 1540-1870 (1979). Incorporates a fully illustrated catalogue covering the British Isles.
• Harris, J., A Country House Index (1971). Index to country houses in the UK and Ireland illustrated in 107 books published between 1715 and 1872.
• Holmes, M., The Country House Described: an index to the country houses of Great Britain and Ireland (1987). Index to illustrations and descriptions.
• Holloway, M., Steel Engravings in Nineteenth Century British Topographical Books: a bibliography (1977).
• Richardson, R. and Thorne, R., The Builder: illustrations index 1843-1883 (1994).

• Image collections of broad geographical and period scope held by museums and other repositories are listed under the relevant institution in archives, with any available catalogues.
• Amalgamated image databases of broad geographical and period scope are listed on the museums and art galleries page.
• Online image databases specific to a time or place are listed below geographically (England, Channel Isles, Isle of Man, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and by period.

Online images and maps: England

• England general: See below under the period and also archives: England and museums and art galleries.
• By historic county:
• Bedfordshire:
  • Bedfordshire Community Archives: parish histories from Bedfordshire and Luton Archives, illustrated with maps and photographs from the collections.
  • Genmaps: Bedfordshire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • How We Built Bedfordshire: Bedfordshire Libraries provide both modern photographs and historic images of buildings in the county, arranged by type of building, plus a pdf guide "Bedfordshire Buildings and Monuments".
• Berkshire:
  • Genmaps: Berkshire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • New Landscapes: Enclosures in Berkshire: enclosure maps 1738-1883 from Berkshire Record Office.
  • Reading Local Studies Scanned Collection: over 8000 illustrations from the Local Studies collection, mainly old photographs, but including a few prints, watercolours and estate maps.
  • Sense of Place South East: collections of museums and libraries in West Berkshire and Hampshire, Slough, Reading, Windsor and Maidenhead.
• Buckinghamshire:
  • Buckinghamshire Photographs: a collection of over 20,000 old photographs from Buckinghamshire County Museum and archives.
  • Genmaps: Buckinghamshire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Sharing Wycombe's Old Photographs: over 15,000 images of High Wycombe and the surrounding towns and villages from High Wycombe Library, the Wycombe Museum, and the local newspaper the Bucks Free Press.
  • Enclosure map of the Parish of Sherington 1796, put online by Sherington Historical Society.
• Cambridgeshire:
  • Cambridgeshire Community Archives Network: includes images of buildings from historic to recent.
  • Cambridge Revisited: a series of scenes of old Cambridge taken from glass plate negatives dating from 1860 to the early years of the 20th century, from the collection of Peter Lofts, photographer.
  • Carlton and Willingham Green historic maps: the earliest is an estate map 1767 from Cambridgeshire Record Office.
  • Genmaps: Cambridgeshire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
• Cheshire:
  • Chester Image Bank: historic photographs, postcards, sketches, prints and water colours of Chester and district from Chester City Archives.
  • e-mapping Victorian Cheshire: all the tithe maps for Cheshire online with modern maps and aerial photography for comparison. There is also a database containing details from the related apportionments.
  • Genmaps: Cheshire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Picture Cheshire: photographs from the Cheshire Record Office and Cheshire libraries.
  • Picture Halton Runcorn Widnes: searchable database of historic images from Halton Borough Council.
• Cornwall:
  • A Cornish Sourcebook: Chris Bond's online collection includes historic maps, engravings and postcards.
  • Genmaps: Cornwall makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Magic of Cornwall: Old Cornwall: presents historic photographs of Cornwall from the Francis Frith collection.
  • Photographs of Cornwall is a selection from the collection of historic images held by the Cornwall Centre in Redruth.
  • Postcards of Old Cornwall: a large collection of old postcards, arranged by place.
  • South West Image Bank: photographic collection covering Devon and Cornwall, particularly Plymouth, mainly from the Western Morning News 1945-2003.
• Cumberland:
  • Genmaps: Cumberland makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Cumbria Image Bank: images from Cumbria County Council Libraries and Archives Service covering the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland.
• Derbyshire:
  • Genmaps: Derbyshire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Picture the Past: thousands of historic photographs, postcards and engravings from the collections of the libraries and museums of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
  • Lower Dove Tithe Maps and Apportionments: covering a collection of parishes on the Derbyshire-Staffordshire border.
• Devon:
  • Devon Libraries Map Search provides a datebase of map information and links to some online maps of the county.
  • Tithe Maps of East Devon: Tithe maps and apportionments covering all 29 modern day parishes of the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
  • Etched on Devon's Memory: around Devon with early topographical prints, from Devon Library and Information Services.
  • Etched on Devon's Memory: Maps: Devon Library and Information Services makes a series of historical maps of Devon available online, accessible via a key map. These are by Christopher Saxton (1575), Benjamin Donn (1765) and C. and J. Greenwood (1827).
  • Genmaps: Devonshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Historic Devon gazetteer: Devon Libraries Local Studies Service provides information for each parish, including historic maps and images.
  • Modbury: Historical Photos from The Baker Collection at West Devon Record Office.
  • Plymouth's Architectural Heritage has over 100 building control plans online.
  • Steve Johnson, Ye Olde Maps of Ye Plymouthe reproduces a number of maps, but does not date and identify all of them. For further information see Elisabeth Stuart, Lost Landscapes of Plymouth: Maps, charts and plans to 1800 (1991).
  • South West Image Bank: photographic collection covering Devon and Cornwall, particularly Plymouth, mainly from the Western Morning News 1945-2003.
  • Totnes Image Bank and Rural Archive: photographic record of Totnes and the surrounding areas, mainly in the South Hams. Online galleries present a sample of the thousands of images available.
• Dorset:
  • Burton Bradstock Old Maps and Tithes: 1839 tithe map for the parish with transcript of details from the accompanying apportionment.
  • Dorset Coast Digital Archive presents topographical material from Dorset County Museum and the Dorset History Centre in an interactive format in which a modern map can be compared with 1940s and 1970s aerial photographs, first edition OS maps, tithe maps, and 18th-century estate maps. It includes tithe apportionment transcriptions.
  • Dorset Pictures Online: over 300 images from the Dorset History Centre archives.
  • Genmaps: Dorsetshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
• Durham:
  • The Durham Record is a searchable online collection of photographs from museums, libraries and archives around County Durham. It has links where relevant to the Keys to the Past site (see below).
  • Genmaps: Durham: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • iSee Gateshead: thousands of images from image collection of Gateshead Local Studies.
  • Keys to the Past provides a guide to the archaeological record of County Durham and Northumberland. It includes parish histories with modern and historic maps.
  • Pictures in Print: printed maps and topographical prints of County Durham created before 1860 held by Durham University Library, Durham County Library, Durham Cathedral Library and the British Library.
  • South Tyneside Images: historic photographs, prints and drawings of Hebburn, Jarrow, South Shields and region.
  • Structural Images of the North-East: the architectural heritage of Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Durham and Teesside shown in photographs, slides, sketches, paintings, etchings and drawings from a number of collections digitised by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Includes sketches of old North Shields by William Henry Charlton (1846-1918).
• Essex:
  • Genmaps: Essex: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • See also Middlesex/London
• Gloucestershire:
  • Genmaps: Gloucestershire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
• Hampshire:
  • Genmaps: Hampshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
  • Hantsphere: digitised local studies collections from across Hampshire, including Southampton and Portsmouth. Includes old photographs, postcards and prints.
  • Jeans, G.G. (ed.), Memorials of Hampshire (1906). Photographs scanned.
  • Old Hampshire Mapped: county maps and itineraries, with notes by Jean and Martin Norgate, Geography Department, Portsmouth University.
  • Sense of Place South East: collections of museums and libraries in West Berkshire and Hampshire, Slough, Reading, Windsor and Maidenhead.
  • South Stoneham, Hampshire Tithe Map c.1845. with associated details from the apportionment.
• Herefordshire:
  • Genmaps: Herefordshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
• Hertfordshire:
  • Genmaps: Hertfordshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
• Huntingdonshire:
  • Genmaps: Huntingdonshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Peterborough Sense of Place: database of the collections of Peterborough City Council, Burghley House, Thorney Museum and Nene Valley Railway, which include photographs, maps and plans.
• Kent:
  • Canterbury Buildings: Maps: maps of the city from 1580 to the modern period.
  • Genmaps: Kent: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Here's History Kent: a range of local history materials for the towns and parishes of Kent, including old photographs and other images.
• Lancashire:
  • Gallery Oldham Collections Online: objects and artworks from the gallery's collections include topographical paintings.
  • Genmaps: Lancashire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Lancashire Lantern: local photographs, postcards and other images held in libraries across the county.
  • Lancaster Historic Maps: maps from the Lancaster University Library Map Collection.
  • Manchester Local Image Collection: over 80,000 photographs and other visual images of Manchester and its suburbs from Manchester Archives and Local Studies at Manchester Central Library.
  • Old Maps of Lancashire: maps mainly from the Lancashire Record Office, including OS first edition town maps, the Tithe Map of Caton parish and a bird's-eye map of Preston in 1715. There is also a bird's-eye view of Ormskirk in 1609 from Ormskirk Library.
  • Picture Blackpool: photographs of Blackpool and the neighbouring area from Blackpool Central Library.
  • Tameside Image Archive: old photographs from the collection of Tameside Local Studies and Archives Service.
• Leicestershire:
  • Genmaps: Leicestershire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
• Lincolnshire:
  • Genmaps: Lincolnshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • North Lincolnshire Image Archive: thousands of photographs from the North Lincolnshire Council's Museums Service and Library Service.
• Middlesex/London:
  • Ackermann, Microcosm of London (1808): scanned images of all engravings at Motco.
  • Edwin C. Bolles collection of publications, maps and images on the history and topography of London, from Tufts University.
  • Collage is a searchable online image database with 20,000 items from the Guildhall Library and Guildhall Art Gallery.
  • Crace Collection of Maps of London: c.1200 printed and hand-drawn maps from the British Library charting the development of the city from around 1570 to 1860. Includes some building plans.
  • Depford Plans and Drawings: 130 drawings and plans of the area around the royal dockyards, from the 17th to the 19th century, from the British Library.
  • Genmaps: London: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Hackney Historic Images On-Line: a database from Hackney Archives.
  • Ideal Homes: Suburbia in focus: this history of London's suburbs from the University of Greenwich is illustrated by old images and maps from archive and local history collections of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Southwark.
  • Illustrated London News: has selection of images online. Another selection is available at London Genealogy. Although not restricted to London, there are many illustrations of buildings in London.
  • Kensington Turnpike Trust drawings: 30 drawings of Regency London from the British Library.
  • Lambeth Landmark: the Lambeth Archives image collection.
  • London Genealogy hosts engravings of London buildings c.1830 after the drawings of Thomas H. Shepherd, and interior views from London Interiors [1841].
  • London: A Life in Maps: 40 maps and drawings from the British Library collections, accessible via a Google map interface.
  • Malton, Thomas, Picturesque Tour of London and Westminster (1792) : scanned images of all engravings at Motco.
  • Mapco has scanned maps and views of London and environs, including plans and elevations of the public buildings in the Borough of St. Marylebone taken from a 1834 map of St. Marylebone by F.A. Bartlett.
  • Maps: individual maps of London online include:
    • Woodcut map of London c. 1550 at British History Online.
    • Leake's survey of the city after the Great Fire, engraved by Wenceslaus Hollar 1667, at British History Online.
    • Ogilby and Morgan's large scale map of the city as rebuilt by 1676, at British History Online.
    • Morgan's map of the whole of London in 1682, at British History Online.
    • James de la Feuille's map of London c. 1690 (derived from Hollar's 'New Mapp' of 1675) at British History Online
    • John Rocque, London, Westminster and Southwark 1746, at Motco.
    • Greenwood's Map of London 1827, at Bath Spa University.
    • The Charles Booth Online Archive at LSE includes his poverty map of London 1898-9.
  • Moto UK Directory and Image Database: print and map-seller with a large online reference catalogue, particularly rich in images and maps of London.
  • Old London Maps: hosts maps and views of the city from the 16th to the 19th centuries.
  • PhotoLondon: photographs of London from the Guildhall Library, Museum of London, London Metropolitan Archives, Westminster City Archives and National Monuments Record.
• Norfolk:
  • Genmaps: Norfolk: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Norfolk E-Map Explorer: compares aerial photographs of 1946 and 1988 and historical maps of Norfolk from the county record office. It includes nearly 700 tithe maps, which cover about 85% of Norfolk, over 100 enclosure maps and the first edition OS.
  • NOAH: Norfolk Online Access to Heritage seaches the combined on-line collections of Cultural Services at Norfolk County Council. These include Picture Norfolk - a database of thousands of digitised photographs and topographical sketches; you can use the advanced search option to restrict your search to this database.
• Northamptonshire:
  • Genmaps: Northamptonshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Heritage East Midlands Sense of Place: Northamptonshire: material from the Northamptonshire Studies collections includes historic maps and photographs.
• Northumberland:
  • Genmaps: Northumberland: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Grimm's Northumberland Sketchbooks: late 18th-century drawings by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm from the British Library.
  • Keys to the Past provides a guide to the archaeological record of County Durham and Northumberland. It includes parish histories with modern and historic maps.
  • Structural Images of the North-East: the architectural heritage of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and Teesside shown in photographs, slides, sketches, paintings, etchings and drawings from a number of collections digitised by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Includes sketches of old North Shields by William Henry Charlton (1846-1918).
  • Town Plan of Berwick-upon-Tweed 1852, from the National Library of Scotland.
• Nottinghamshire:
  • Genmaps: Nottinghamshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Picture the Past: thousands of historic photographs, postcards and engravings from the collections of the libraries and museums of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
• Oxfordshire:
  • Genmaps: Oxfordshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • How, F. D., Pictures from Oxford (c.1935). Scans of water-colours by Ernest Haslehust.
  • Lang, A., Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes, 6th edition (1896). Scanned images of the illustrations.
  • Oxfordshire Photographic Archive (part of Oxfordshire Heritage Search): over 60,000 digital images (and catalogue records of a further 100,000 images) of Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties.
• Shropshire:
  • Genmaps: Shropshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Darwin Country: Images: searchable online image database from Shrewsbury Museums Service includes topographical drawings and paintings.
  • Secret Shropshire: Shropshire County Council provides an online database of thousands of images, including over 4,000 of buildings and monuments.
• Somerset:
  • Genmaps: Somersetshire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Historic images of Somerset: around 1200 historic postcards, engravings and views from the Somerset Record Office, including about 200 photographs from the archive of Francis Frith and Company.
  • Bath in Time: historic images from public and private collections of Bath and the surrounding villages.
  • Bath: Victoria Art Gallery: hundreds of drawings, watercolours and prints of local scenes from the gallery's collection. (Requires Internet Explorer for full functionality. Firefox will only browse the first page.) 
  • Freshford.com: this local history website covers Bath and selected villages around it in Somerset and Wiltshire. It includes historic maps and images for Bath, Bradford-on-Avon, Freshford, Hinton Charterhouse and Limpley Stoke.
  • Heritage of the Ile: An online selection of 100 images from the 4,000 in the photographic archive of Ilminster at the Somerset Record Office.
• Staffordshire:
  • Genmaps: Staffordshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Lower Dove Tithe Maps and Apportionments: covering a collection of parishes on the Derbyshire-Staffordshire border.
  • Staffordshire Past-Track: has thousands of old photographs and other images of buildings in the county. It includes The Staffordshire Views: 2,684 watercolours, drawings, sketches, engravings and lithographs of churches, public buildings, country houses and landscapes from the William Salt Library, Stafford, commissioned and collected by William Salt in the 1830s and 1840s.
  • Stoke-on-Trent Museums online database has hundreds of photographs, plans and drawings of historic buildings, including those of the 1982 Stoke-on-Trent Historic Building Survey.
  • Walsall A Click In Time: photographs from Walsall Local History Centre.
• Suffolk:
  • Genmaps: Suffolk: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Sense of Place Suffolk: collections of museums and archives in the county.
• Surrey:
  • Genmaps: Surrey: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • See also Middlesex/London
• Sussex:
  • Genmaps: Sussex: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Holmes, Edric, Seaward Sussex illustrated by Mary M. Vigers (1920).
  • Old Sussex Mapped: two centuries of Sussex county maps put online by Dominic Fontana, Geography Department, University of Portsmouth.
  • West Sussex Past Pictures: the official database of heritage photographs, prints, drawings and paintings provided by local museums and the County Library Service.
  • Brighton and Hove Historical Mapping: an interactive site Timothy Langner, University of Portsmouth, using maps from 1799-1941.
• Warwickshire:
  • Birmingham Lives: Historic photographs of the city, together with other material, from the Carl Chinn Birmingham People’s History Archive.
  • Digital Handsworth: Birmingham City Council offers a history of the parish together with images including views by Allen Edward Everitt (1824-1882).
  • Genmaps: Warwickshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Morley, G., Warwick and Leamington, Beautiful England series (c.1920). Scans of all the water-colours by Ernest Haslehust.
  • Pictures of Coventry: photographs from Coventry Libraries and Information Services.
  • Smith, W., A New and Compendious History of the County of Warwick (1830/1) : scans of all plates.
  • Windows on Warwickshire: digital database of local history including old photographs, maps, and paintings.
• Westmorland:
  • Cumbria Image Bank: images from Cumbria County Council Libraries and Archives Service covering the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland.
  • Genmaps: Westmorland: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
• Wiltshire:
  • Freshford.com: this local history website covers Bath and selected villages around it in Somerset and Wiltshire. It includes historic maps and images for Bath, Bradford-on-Avon, Freshford, Hinton Charterhouse and Limpley Stoke.
  • Genmaps: Wiltshire: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Wiltshire Community: town and parish histories from Wiltshire Libraries and Heritage, illustrated with maps and photographs from the collections.
  • Wiltshire Treasures: individual and combined online catalogues of certain Wiltshire museum collections and the c. 60,000 historic photographs and prints owned by Wiltshire Council. Only a few images have been digitised.
• Worcestershire:
  • Genmaps: Worcestershire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Picture Gallery: topographical prints, drawings and watercolours in the collection of Worcestershire Record Office.
  • Worcester City Museums has put online over 160 old pictures and photographs of Worcester from collections, and also a selection of historic maps of the city.
  • The Worcestershire Drawings of E. F. and T. F. Burney: a large collection of late 18th-century and early 19th-century topographical watercolours and drawings from Worcestershire Record Office.
  • Worcestershire Tithe and Inclosure Map Project: 18th and 19th century maps from Worcestershire Record Office.
• Yorkshire:
  • Allen, Thomas, A New and Complete History of the County of York (1831) : scans of all the steel engravings by Nathaniel Whittock.
  • Calderdale Council, From weaver to web: 23,000 images of historical documents relating to local history, mainly from the Horsfall Turner collection donated to the Central Library in Halifax. Includes some 300 old photographs and a few drawings and illusrations.
  • Calderdale Maps Online: Includes historical OS maps from 1851 to 1948.
  • Genmaps: Yorkshire makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
  • Home, Gordon, Yorkshire Painted And Described (1904).
  • Hull's old harbour, photographed in 1864.
  • Imagine York: searchable database of historic photographs from York Library and City Archives.
  • Kirklees Image Archive: over 60,000 images from the Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield.  
  • Leodis: a photographic archive of Leeds, from Leeds Library and Information Service.
  • Now then: West Yorkshire Archive Service makes local historical materials from its own collection and other community archives.
  • Picture Sheffield: around 11,000 pictures from the collection of Sheffield Local Studies Library.
  • Tracks in Time: The Leeds Tithe Map Project: West Yorkshire Archive Service aims to provide online access to fifty-eight historic tithe maps which together span the modern Leeds Metropolitan District area.
  • Twixt Aire and Calder: searchable online database of around 10,000 Wakefield District images from the Wakefield Metropolitan District Council Libraries and Information Services.
  • Unnetie: 10,000 historical images of North Yorkshire from the photographic collection of  North Yorkshire County Library Service.
  • Wakefield & District Family History Society has made Tithe Maps of Alverthorpe, Crigglestone, Stanley cum Wrenthorpe and Thornes available for download in pdf format.

Online images and maps: Channel Isles

• David Rumsey Map Collection: Channel Isles 8 maps.
• Genmaps: Channel Isles: makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
• Guernsey Museums and Galleries Prints On-line offers a small selection of local views (photographs and watercolours) with the option to buy photographic prints.
• Jersey Heritage Trust: Art Catalogue includes topographical images.

Online images and maps: Isle of Man

• Genmaps: Isle of Man : makes available scans of a large collection of maps.
• Manx Notebook: Engraved Views of the Isle of Man has topographical prints from the 17th to the 19th century.

Online images and maps: Ireland

• Ask About Ireland a national collaboration of libraries, museums and archives to make available online publication of material from their local studies collections, including photographs, maps and documents.
• BBC: London Companies: maps of the London Companies (Plantation of Londonderry) by the cartographer Thomas Raven, commissioned in 1622.
• Cork Past and Present: Maps and Images: Cork City Libraries has put online an impressive collection of maps from 1545 onwards, and collections of old photographs. Some of this material is also available on the Ask About Ireland website (listed above). 
• Foto: Clare County Library Images Online has made available online local photographs, postcards, engravings and drawings from its collections.
• The Irish Historical Picture Company covers the whole of Ireland. It is commercial.
• Mayo Maps Online: Mayo County Library has put a large number of estate maps online. To view them you need the SVG-Viewer or the DjVu-Viewer plugin.
• National Library of Ireland online catalogue includes prints, drawings and photographs, with images.
• OSI's Mapviewer: the 6-inch and 25-inch Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland to view free.
• Philip's Handy Atlas of the Counties of Ireland (1882).
• Royal Irish Academy: As I Walked Out: a photographic memoir of Dublin in ruins, May 1916, by T.J. Westropp.
• Royal Irish Academy: Drawings of Irish Antiquities: c.7,000 antiquarian sketches and drawings between the late 18th and early 20th centuries.
• Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland (c.1841). Scanned images of all engravings.
• Wright, G.N., Ireland Illustrated (1881). Scanned images of all engravings.
• And see archives: Ireland.

Online images and maps: Scotland

• Am Baile provides a digital archive of the history and culture of the Scottish Highlands and Islands, with material from archives, libraries, museums and private collections, including old photographs of buildings.
• Beattie, William, Scotland Illustrated (c.1840). Scanned images of all engravings.
• Charting the Nation is a collaborative digital imaging and cataloguing project at the University of Edinburgh covering maps of Scotland and their associated texts c.1550-1740.
• The Drawn Evidence: This was an online collection created by the University of Dundee of 10,000 architectural plans, drawings and related material held by repositories across Scotland. The website is no longer live, so this link is to an archived copy, which does not have all the images, but still functions as an index of the material. It may be slow.
• Edwardian Scotland: Slideshows of postcards 1890-1900 on YouTube: South Scotland; North Scotland.
• Maps of Scotland from the National Library of Scotland. It has over 20,000 maps of Scotland, including large scale OS maps of Scottish towns (1847-95), a selection of estate maps and county maps, and the Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, 1654, with text here translated into English for the first time.
• Genmaps: Scotland: makes available scans of a large collection of maps. See also their pages by Scottish county.
• The National Galleries of Scotland have an online database including some of their collection of topographical paintings.
• Pencils of Light: two albums of the Edinburgh Calotype Club, the first photographic club in the world, digitised by the National Library of Scotland. Includes images of castles and churches and views of towns in Scotland, Italy, Belgium and Malta.
• Scran: 360,000 images, movies and sounds from museums, galleries, archives and the media, hosted by The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, in partnership with over 300 cultural institutions in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
• Shetland Museum and Archives Photo Library: a searchable database of thousands of photographs.
• Slezer's Scotland: more than 70 engravings from John Slezer, Theatrum Scotiae (1693), digitised by the National Library of Scotland.
• Scotland's Images: a picture library taken from Scotland's national collections, including material from The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
• Scotland's Places enables search across different national databases using geographic location. Includes photographs from The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, maps and plans.
• Wanderings with a Camera in Scotland: The Photography of Erskine Beveridge (RCAHMS 2009). Photographs taken between 1880 and 1919. Online preview of images.
• Dumfries: Dean of Guild plans for the Royal Burgh of Dumfries are being entered into an online database.
• Edinburgh:
  • The Panorama: The Edinburgh Virtual Environment Centre presents the panoramic paintings of Old Edinburgh begun in 1796 by Robert Barker.
  • Capital Collections: images from the collections of Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services. Includes an area search.
  • Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh: six volumes from the 1880s with numerous illustrations.
  • Edinphoto: Peter Stubbs has collected not only old photographs, but maps and engravings of Edinburgh, together with details of local topographical artists and photographers.
  • Shepherd, T.H., Modern Athens or Edinburgh in the 19th Century (1829). Scans of all images.
• Glasgow:
  • The Glasgow Story: This history of the city is illustrated with thousands of images from the collections of the city's libraries, museums and universities, including maps, prints, paintings and photographs.
  • Maps of Glasgow: Historical to Digital: city maps from the collection of the University of Glasgow.
  • Virtual Mitchell: photographs of Glasgow housed in the Mitchell Library, together with images from Glasgow Museums and private owners.
• See also archives: Scotland.
• For Great Britain generally see below under the period and see museums and art galleries. 

Online images and maps: Wales

• The Architecture of Wales: architectural drawings in the National Library of Wales.
• Art Collection of the National Museums and Galleries of Wales: the online catalogue of paintings and sculptures includes many topographical views.
• A Tour in Wales: 8 extra-illustrated volumes in the National Library of Wales of this work by Thomas Pennant (1726-1798) recording the three journeys he made through Wales between 1773 and 1776. The volumes include original drawings by Moses Griffiths, Ingleby and other artists of the period.
• Gastineau, H.G., Wales Illustrated (1829/31). Scanned images of many of the engravings.
• Gathering the Jewels includes a selection of estate maps and plans.
• Genmaps: Wales: makes available scans of a large collection of maps. See also their pages by Welsh county.
• John Ingleby Watercolours from the National Library of Wales. Views in north Wales and Shrewsbury 1793-6.
• Thomas Taylor's county maps 1718: from the National Library of Wales.
• Woodward, B. B., The History of Wales (1853). Scanned images of a selection of the engravings.
• Caerleon: 1840 Tithe Map of Caerleon with searchable database of details from the related apportionment.
• Cardiff: Cardiff: The building of a capital: catalogues thousands of plans submitted to meet building regulations and now housed in Glamorgan Record Office.
• Swansea: Interactive City Map: photographs and other images held by Swansea Museums Service.
• See also archives: Wales.
• For Great Britain generally see below under the period and see museums and art galleries. 

Online images and indexes by period

Medieval images:

• The Unveiling of Britain: hundreds of maps and views of the British Isles created between 800 and 1600, from the British Library.
• The Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi is an international research project dedicated to the publication of medieval stained glass. The section for great Britain has made thousands of images available online in a searchable database.

Seventeenth-century images:

• Dummer, E. and Wiltshaw, T., South Coast Harbours 1698: a report to the Admiralty assessing 18 harbours along the south coast of England from Dover to Land's End, with harbour charts. From Hampshire County Council Museums Service.
• Magalotti, L., Travels of Cosmo the Third 1669: illustrations scanned.
• Schellinks, Esselens and Doomer: list of drawings with sample images.
• Speed, J., Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain (1612), has bird's-eye views of major towns inset in the corners of his county maps. Most of his town maps are provided online by Occidental College at Speed: Cities and Towns.

Eighteenth-century images:

• Boswell's Antiquities of England, Wales and Scotland (c.1786). Index of engravings by Richard Nicholson.
• Chorographia Brritanniæ an atlas of the counties of England and Wales, first published in 1742 by William Henry Toms.
• Complete English Traveller (Nathaniel Spencer 1771): scanned images of all engravings.
• A Complete List of the Plates and Wood-Cuts in the Gentleman's Magazine from ... 1717 to 1818 (1821).
• Dalton, W.H., The New and Complete English Traveller (1784): list of the maps and engravings, with some scanned images.
• Grimm, Samuel Hieronymus and other artists such as George Scharf: Late 18th-century topographical drawings from the British Library.
• Grose, F., The Antiquities of England and Wales (1783).
• King George III Topographical Collection at the British Library: contains some 50,000 items, dating from around 1500 to 1824, but it is particularly strong in maps, prints, drawings and watercolours from the mid-1760s to 1800.

Nineteenth-century images:

• Allingham, Helen: online galleries of her paintings of country cottages 1880s to 1920s. And see below under 20th century: Holme.
• Allom, Thomas - architect turned illustrator. Many of his engravings included in the general index of topographical prints by print-seller Richard Nicholson.
• Britton, J., Picturesque Antiquities of English Cities (1836): scanned images of all engravings.
• Country Life Picture Library has a selection online from its archives.
• Illustrated London News: a selection of images online. Another selection is available at London Genealogy. Although there are many illustrations of buildings in London, it also depicted buildings in other parts of the British Isles, and sometimes further afield.
• Daniell, William, Voyage Round Great Britain (1814-25) : scanned images of all engravings at Motco. Selection scanned by Richard Nicholson.
• Early photographically illustrated books: 1,500 early photographic prints from the British Library.
• Jones' Views of the Seats, Manors, Castles, etc. of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland (1829): scanned images of all engravings.
• Knight, C., Old England: A Pictorial Musem of Regal, Ecclesiastical, Baronial, Municipal and Popular Antiquities (1844).
• Neale, J.P., Views of the seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, 6 vols (1818-23), 2nd series: 5 vols (1824-29). Index of engravings by Richard Nicholson.
• Rock's Topographical Vignettes 1845-1870 from the collection at The North Devon Anthenaeum in Barnstaple, digised by Motco.
• Turner, J.M.W., Picturesque Views in England and Wales (1838) : scanned images of all engravings at Motco.
• The Turner Gallery: A Series of One Hundred and Twenty Engravings From the works of J.M.W. Turner, R.A.
• Turner Worldwide: Comprehensive online catalogue of J.M.W. Turner's works, compiled by the Tate Gallery.
• Westall, William, Great Britain Illustrated (1829) : scanned images of all engravings at Postaprint reference. Another complete set at Motco.

Twentieth-century images:

• Baedeker's Old Guide Books: Great Britain 1910: the maps.
• Ditchfield, P. H., English Villages (1901).
• Ditchfield, P. H., Vanishing England, illustrated by Fred Roe (1910).
• Gotch, J.A., The Growth of the English House, A Short History of its Architectural Development from 100 to 1800 (1909). Scanned images of all illustrations: plans and photographs.
• Green, William (1907-83) Online collection of ink drawings of historic buildings mainly in the West Midlands, including many timber-framed houses.
• Holme, C. (ed.), Old English Country Cottages (1906). Scans of water-colours by Herbert Alexander and Helen Allingham and line drawings by Sydney R Jones.
• And see photograph collections held by national institutions, listed under archives.