Collection: Aerofilms collection

Description

The collection comprises approximately 1.1 million aerial photographic images taken by Aerofilms and associated companies between 1919 and 2006.

The photography was taken for commercial and speculative purposes: from commissions from land owners and government agencies to postcard publishers and door to door vendors. It almost exclusively contains oblique images taken at an angle from aircraft rather than vertical images taken directly above. This means that the perspectives of buildings and landscapes are visible. The photography mainly relates to targets in the British Isles although a few images of many other countries are available.

The Collection has in depth coverage of towns, villages, factories and country houses. Images of coastline illustrate coastal erosion that has taken place over time, and landscapes show archaeological formations and changing farming practices.

Access to the collection is through a series of over 200 topographically arranged binders of reference prints (AFL03/05-AFL03/10) and 142 negative registers (AFL03/03). The collection has been partially conserved, catalogued and digitised as part of a project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The collection has been arranged into 50 series, some of which have handlists available. A list of the series present in the collection and a transcript of some of the negative registers is available.

Archival History

Aerofilms was registered in 1919 by F.L. Wills (ex-RNAS observer) and Claud Graham-White (pioneer aviator). At first they captured oblique and ground photography and ran a cine department but added vertical cover to their repertoire in the 1920s. They had already embarked on a relationship with the Aircraft Manufacturing Company (which became De Haviland's) by renting a DH9 with pilot Alan Cobham and at some point before WWII they partnered or were taken over by the Aircraft Operating Company. By 1939 Aerofilms and the AOC had offices in Wembley. At this time most staff were put into uniform and spent the war at Coastal Command's RAF Medmenham working on air photo reconnaissance, interpretation, mapping and model-making.

In early WWII Percy Hunting acquired an interest in the company and after hostilities ended Aerofilms was re-formed under the Huntings banner. Huntings' companies worked around the world in techniques including vertical aerial survey, interpretation and mapping, remote sensing, geological and other specialisms. There seems to have been some fluidity between the library collections of Huntings companies. Aerofilms also acquired material from other sources including overseas firms and postcard companies.

The two major acquisitions made by Aerofilms were AeroPictorial and Airviews. AeroPictorial Ltd had been set up in 1934 by Cyril E. Murrell (who had worked at Aerofilms between 1921 and 1934). The two companies were merged in 1960 when Murrell died. The Airviews collection, which seems to have begun in 1947, was purchased in 1979 although the company continued to trade separately until 1992.

The collection was acquired from Blom ASA in 2007 by English Heritage (National Monuments Record), and the Royal Commissions on Ancient, and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Wales. It was acquired with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Friends of the National Libraries.

Content

Rights

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