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.
- 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.
- Richardson, R. and Thorne, R., The Builder:
illustrations index 1843-1883 (1994).
- Institutional image collections of broad
geographical and period scope 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 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:
- Buckinghamshire:
- Cambridgeshire:
-
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.
- 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.
- Cornwall:
- 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:
- Devon:
- Devon
Libraries Map Search provides a datebase of map information
and links to some online maps of the county.
- Etched
on Devon's Memory: around Devon with early topographical
prints, from Devon Library and Information Services.
- Genmaps:
Devonshire: makes available scans of a large collection of
maps.
- 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.
- Dorset:
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- The
North Hampshire Tithe Map Project aims to transcribe
and digitise all the Tithe Apportionments and Tithe Maps for the area
covered by the present Borough of Basingstoke & Deane.
- 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.
- Herefordshire:
- Hertfordshire:
- 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:
- Lancashire:
- Leicestershire:
- Lincolnshire:
- 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.
- 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.
- London
Genealogy hosts engravings of London buildings c.1830 after
the drawings of Thomas H. Shepherd, and interior views from London
Interiors [1841].
- Lambeth
Landmark: the Lambeth Archives image collection.
- 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:
- Moto
UK
Directory and Image Database: print-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 and historical
maps of Norfolk from the county record office.
- 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:
- 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).
- 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:
- 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.
- Somerset
Documents Online: historic postcards, engravings, views and OS maps from the
Somerset Record Office.
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- Warwickshire:
- 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.
- Worcestershire:
- Yorkshire:
- Allen, Thomas, A
New and Complete History of the County of York
(1831) : scans of all the steel engravings by Nathaniel Whittock.
- 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.
- Picture
Sheffield: around 11,000 pictures from the collection of
Sheffield Local Studies Library.
- Twixt
Aire and Calder: searchable online database of around 10,000
Wakefield District images from the Wakefield Metropolitan District
Council Libraries and Information Services.
- 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
Online images and maps:
Isle of Man
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.
- Foto:
Clare County Library Images Online has made available online
local
photographs, postcards, engravings and drawings from its collections.
- Ireland's
Historical
Mapping Archive: the 6-inch and 25-inch Ordnance Survey maps
of Ireland to view for a fee or purchase.
- 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.
- 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.
- Edwardian Scotland: Slideshows of postcards 1890-1900
on
YouTube: South
Scotland; North
Scotland.
- Maps
of Scotland 1560-1928 from the National Library of Scotland
has c.800 of the most important maps from the first four centuries of
the mapping of Scotland, including large scale OS maps of Scottish
towns (1847-95) 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 now have an online catalogue including
some of their collection of topographical paintings.
- 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.
- Dumfries: Dean
of Guild plans for the Royal Burgh of Dumfries are being
entered into an online database.
- Edinburgh:
- 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
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.
- 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.
- 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.
