National Monuments Record
Encyclopedia
The National Monuments Record (NMR) is the public archive
of English Heritage
, located in the National Monuments Record Centre on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly the Swindon Works
, http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/309655 next door to the National Trust
HQ.
It is an archive of architectural and archaeological records and holds over 12 million historic photographs, plans, drawings, reports, records and publications covering England's archaeology, architecture, social and local history. It is a dynamic collection, with records being added to this day.
(RCHME) which was set up to compile and publish an inventory of all ancient and historical monuments up to the year 1700 by county and by parish.
The National Buildings Record (NBR), an independent body, was set up in 1940 under the inspiration of Walter Godfrey
, its first Director "to meet the dangers of war then threatening many buildings of national importance". Between the declaration of war in 1939 and the first London air-raids in 1940 many moveable works of art, archives and antiquities were evacuated to the relative safety of the countryside. For example, the contents of the National Gallery
were taken to country houses, slate mines and quarries in Wales However, buildings could not be protected in this way, so steps were taken to collect architectural plans, drawings, photographs and other records. The RCHME worked closely with the NBR to carry out the extensive photographic recording of the towns in the eastern and southern counties at risk from enemy action.
Although there were other voluntary and academic bodies at the time that collected some architectural records, eg the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Royal Institute of British Architects
and the London Survey Committee, they were apparently deemed to be too small or out of scope for the sort of venture that appears to have been envisaged in the chaos of wartime Britain.
The initial core of the collection was formed by the Conway Library of architectural photographs held by the Courtauld Institute of Art; the negatives of the Victorian photographer Henry Taunt
of Oxford; items from the University of London and by quickly setting photographers to work recording buildings in London and other vulnerable areas. Over the next few years the NBR attracted donations from amateur photographers, people who possessed drawings and owners of collections of negatives.
By the end of the war the collection had grown to such as size and importance that it was continued and was funded by the Treasury. The 1944 and 1947 Town and Country Planning Acts were important for the NBR as it meant that lists of buildings of architectural and historic importance were started, and the NBR had to be informed before an historic building was demolished.
The recession of the late 1940s and early 1950s presented a different challenge from bombing, but no less severe. This time the destruction of significant buildings was due to deliberate demolition because the owners (through new inheritance taxation and shortage of building materials) could no longer afford to maintain them. In 1946 the RCHME work was extended to include the recording of 18th and 19th century architecture.
In the 1950s the NBR archive acquisitions included the collections of Sydney Pitcher (medieval architecture and vernacular buildings); Helmut Gernsheim
(photographs of tombs in St Pauls Cathedral and Westminster Abbey
) as well as continued recording of architectural details such as glass, fixtures and fittings, woodwork and sculpture. The 1950s also saw the start of aerial photography to discover and record ancient sites, as more intensive agriculture, forestry and gravel extraction threatened historic remains on ‘marginal land’.
The NBR was merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England
(RCHME) in 1963. The name was then changed to the National Monuments Record (NMR) to denote the inclusion of archaeological and photographic records. During the 1960s, the importance of photographic records grew, and the archive acquired the surviving negatives of architectural Harry Bedford Lemere
(1864-1944) of houses, public buildings and interior decoration. (The National Maritime Museum
holds another large section of his work.) The demolition of the Euston Arch
and City of London Coal Exchange demonstrated the lack of regard there was at the time for (then) unfashionable Victorian architecture and the importance of keeping records of their existence.
During the 70s and 80s the NMR increased its recording of industrial and commercial building records as well as ‘country’ houses. The expanding breadth of the archive is shown by the acquisition of Rev Denys Rokeby’s collection of railway photographs, and H E S Simmons' negatives of water and wind-mills, and John Maltby’s collection of photographs of Odeon cinemas.
In 1983 the Ordinance Survey Archaeology Division was transferred to the NBR/RCHME which greatly expanded the records available. These are now digitised and available through the Pastscape website. In 1984 the NMR took over the responsibility for the National Library of Aerial Photographs from the Department of the Environment
, together with two million RAF and Ordnance Survey oblique and vertical aerial photographs.
A further acquisition was the Industrial Monuments Survey, transferred from the Department of the Environment (DoE)in 1981. This was followed by the RCHME taking on responsibility for the Survey of London
following the abolition of the Greater London Council.
In 1992 the Commission’s terms of reference was extended to include responsibility for creating a central national record of historic wrecks and other archaeological sites within the 12-mile coastal limit..
The RCHME, including the NMR, merged with English Heritage
in April 1999.
The scope and content of the material is very wide-ranging - modern and historic photography, including coverage of the whole of England in aerial photographs; information on most known archaeological sites and listed buildings; complete sets of Country Life magazine; Victoria County Histories; the Council of British Archaeology’s Industrial Archaeology index; Professor Goodhart-Rendel’s personal index of late 19th century churches; the typescript report, photographs and drawings of Lt Col G W Meates’s Lullingstone Roman villa
excavation and much more. There is also a specialist reference library. Although photographs form the largest proportion of the NMR’s holdings, collections also include plans of historic houses, reports, correspondence and digital files. All of this material is available for public viewing and a substantial number of images from the NMR are now available online and free to access.
There is even a selection of brochures advertising the sales of estate and properties across England from the late 19th and 20th centuries.
; architectural photographers such as Bedford Lemere & Co; commercial photographers like Miller and Harris, John Gay (photographer)
and Eric de Mare
; and the Thames Valley views of Henry Taunt
.
There are also more esoteric collections acquired from, or donated by, individuals who were particularly interested in specialist topics such as medieval stained glass; public parks and windmills.
The ‘Britain from Above’ project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund
is currently underway to digitise and catalogue 95,000 of the Aerofilms
aerial image negatives from 1919-1953 and put them online.
The main online resources are:
In addition to accessing the collections, visitors to the NMR can also make use of the reference library. This includes the entire collection of Country Life
and Architects Journal
magazines going back to the 19th century, both of which feature plans and photographs of thousands of homes, country estates, commercial and civic buildings.
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
of English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, located in the National Monuments Record Centre on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly the Swindon Works
Swindon Works
Swindon railway works were built by the Great Western Railway in 1841 in Swindon in the English county of Wiltshire.-History:In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of a railway between London and Bristol. Its Chief Engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel.From 1836, Brunel had been buying...
, http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/309655 next door to the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
HQ.
It is an archive of architectural and archaeological records and holds over 12 million historic photographs, plans, drawings, reports, records and publications covering England's archaeology, architecture, social and local history. It is a dynamic collection, with records being added to this day.
History
Since 1999 the NMR has been part of English Heritage, but its roots go back to 1908 and the foundation of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of EnglandRoyal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England
The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England was the body formerly responsible for documenting the records of English historical monuments. It was merged with English Heritage on 1 April 1999....
(RCHME) which was set up to compile and publish an inventory of all ancient and historical monuments up to the year 1700 by county and by parish.
The National Buildings Record (NBR), an independent body, was set up in 1940 under the inspiration of Walter Godfrey
Walter Godfrey
Walter Hindes Godfrey CBE, FSA, FRIBA , was an English architect, antiquary, and architectural and topographical historian. He was also a landscape architect and designer, and an accomplished draftsman and illustrator...
, its first Director "to meet the dangers of war then threatening many buildings of national importance". Between the declaration of war in 1939 and the first London air-raids in 1940 many moveable works of art, archives and antiquities were evacuated to the relative safety of the countryside. For example, the contents of the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
were taken to country houses, slate mines and quarries in Wales However, buildings could not be protected in this way, so steps were taken to collect architectural plans, drawings, photographs and other records. The RCHME worked closely with the NBR to carry out the extensive photographic recording of the towns in the eastern and southern counties at risk from enemy action.
Although there were other voluntary and academic bodies at the time that collected some architectural records, eg the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Royal Institute of British Architects
Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...
and the London Survey Committee, they were apparently deemed to be too small or out of scope for the sort of venture that appears to have been envisaged in the chaos of wartime Britain.
The initial core of the collection was formed by the Conway Library of architectural photographs held by the Courtauld Institute of Art; the negatives of the Victorian photographer Henry Taunt
Henry Taunt
Henry William Taunt was a professional photographer based in Oxford, England. His studio was in Broad Street, Oxford.Henry Taunt was born in Penson's Gardens in St Ebbe's, Oxford...
of Oxford; items from the University of London and by quickly setting photographers to work recording buildings in London and other vulnerable areas. Over the next few years the NBR attracted donations from amateur photographers, people who possessed drawings and owners of collections of negatives.
By the end of the war the collection had grown to such as size and importance that it was continued and was funded by the Treasury. The 1944 and 1947 Town and Country Planning Acts were important for the NBR as it meant that lists of buildings of architectural and historic importance were started, and the NBR had to be informed before an historic building was demolished.
The recession of the late 1940s and early 1950s presented a different challenge from bombing, but no less severe. This time the destruction of significant buildings was due to deliberate demolition because the owners (through new inheritance taxation and shortage of building materials) could no longer afford to maintain them. In 1946 the RCHME work was extended to include the recording of 18th and 19th century architecture.
In the 1950s the NBR archive acquisitions included the collections of Sydney Pitcher (medieval architecture and vernacular buildings); Helmut Gernsheim
Helmut Gernsheim
Helmut Erich Robert Kuno Gernsheim was a renowned historian of photography, collector, and photographer.-Biography:Born in Munich, Germany, Gernsheim studied art history at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich...
(photographs of tombs in St Pauls Cathedral and Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
) as well as continued recording of architectural details such as glass, fixtures and fittings, woodwork and sculpture. The 1950s also saw the start of aerial photography to discover and record ancient sites, as more intensive agriculture, forestry and gravel extraction threatened historic remains on ‘marginal land’.
The NBR was merged with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England
Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England
The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England was the body formerly responsible for documenting the records of English historical monuments. It was merged with English Heritage on 1 April 1999....
(RCHME) in 1963. The name was then changed to the National Monuments Record (NMR) to denote the inclusion of archaeological and photographic records. During the 1960s, the importance of photographic records grew, and the archive acquired the surviving negatives of architectural Harry Bedford Lemere
Bedford Lemere
Bedford Lemere & Co was a firm of British architectural photographers active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.-History:The company was established by Bedford Lemere in 1861, with its studio at 147 Strand, London from 1867 to 1947...
(1864-1944) of houses, public buildings and interior decoration. (The National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
holds another large section of his work.) The demolition of the Euston Arch
Euston Arch
The Euston Arch, built in 1837, was the original entrance to Euston station, facing onto Drummond Street, London. The Arch was demolished when the station was rebuilt in the 1960s, but much of the original stone was later located—principally used as fill in the Prescott Channel—and proposals have...
and City of London Coal Exchange demonstrated the lack of regard there was at the time for (then) unfashionable Victorian architecture and the importance of keeping records of their existence.
During the 70s and 80s the NMR increased its recording of industrial and commercial building records as well as ‘country’ houses. The expanding breadth of the archive is shown by the acquisition of Rev Denys Rokeby’s collection of railway photographs, and H E S Simmons' negatives of water and wind-mills, and John Maltby’s collection of photographs of Odeon cinemas.
In 1983 the Ordinance Survey Archaeology Division was transferred to the NBR/RCHME which greatly expanded the records available. These are now digitised and available through the Pastscape website. In 1984 the NMR took over the responsibility for the National Library of Aerial Photographs from the Department of the Environment
Department of the Environment
Department of the Environment or Department for the Environment may refer to:-Australia:* Department of the Environment and Water Resources...
, together with two million RAF and Ordnance Survey oblique and vertical aerial photographs.
A further acquisition was the Industrial Monuments Survey, transferred from the Department of the Environment (DoE)in 1981. This was followed by the RCHME taking on responsibility for the Survey of London
Survey of London
The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of the former County of London. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an Arts-and-Crafts architect and social thinker, and was motivated by a desire to record and preserve London's ancient monuments...
following the abolition of the Greater London Council.
In 1992 the Commission’s terms of reference was extended to include responsibility for creating a central national record of historic wrecks and other archaeological sites within the 12-mile coastal limit..
The RCHME, including the NMR, merged with English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
in April 1999.
What is in the archives
Its collections arose from a number of sources, including the work of national institutions concerned with the buildings and archaeology of England, and from collections acquired from others. The collections are not only used by historians, architects and designers seeking inspiration but also by family history researchers looking for photographs of where their ancestors lived and worked.The scope and content of the material is very wide-ranging - modern and historic photography, including coverage of the whole of England in aerial photographs; information on most known archaeological sites and listed buildings; complete sets of Country Life magazine; Victoria County Histories; the Council of British Archaeology’s Industrial Archaeology index; Professor Goodhart-Rendel’s personal index of late 19th century churches; the typescript report, photographs and drawings of Lt Col G W Meates’s Lullingstone Roman villa
Lullingstone Roman villa
Lullingstone Roman Villa is a villa built during the Roman occupation of Britain, situated near the village of Eynsford in Kent, south eastern England....
excavation and much more. There is also a specialist reference library. Although photographs form the largest proportion of the NMR’s holdings, collections also include plans of historic houses, reports, correspondence and digital files. All of this material is available for public viewing and a substantial number of images from the NMR are now available online and free to access.
Buildings, drawings and surveys
The NMR holds Information on over 70,000 individual buildings, as photographs, drawings, notes, reports from the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments for England (RCHME) and from English Heritage fieldwork. In addition, it holds over 56,000 architectural drawings, including plans, elevations, sketches and watercolours from the RCHME and other sources as well as many plans of English Heritage's properties. The original research material (notes, sketches and photographs) for RCHME inventory volumes are also in the archives.There is even a selection of brochures advertising the sales of estate and properties across England from the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Historic Photographs
The NMR contains photographic collections dating from the 1850s. These include country house albums by anonymous amateurs; famous photographers such as Roger Fenton and Bill BrandtBill Brandt
Bill Brandt was an influential British photographer and photojournalist known for his high-contrast images of British society and his distorted nudes and landscapes.-Career and life:...
; architectural photographers such as Bedford Lemere & Co; commercial photographers like Miller and Harris, John Gay (photographer)
John Gay (photographer)
John Gay was a photographer.-Early life:Gay attended art college in his home town...
and Eric de Mare
Eric de Maré
Eric de Maré was a British photographer and author, described as one of the greatest British architectural photographers.de Maré was born in London on the 10 September 1910, of Swedish parents, Bror and Ingrid de Maré. He was educated at St Paul’s School in London before becoming a student of the...
; and the Thames Valley views of Henry Taunt
Henry Taunt
Henry William Taunt was a professional photographer based in Oxford, England. His studio was in Broad Street, Oxford.Henry Taunt was born in Penson's Gardens in St Ebbe's, Oxford...
.
There are also more esoteric collections acquired from, or donated by, individuals who were particularly interested in specialist topics such as medieval stained glass; public parks and windmills.
Aerial photographs
The NMR holds the largest public archive of aerial photographs in England, organised as two distinct collections - oblique and vertical - each acquired from different sources. More than 680,000 oblique (taken at an angle to the ground) aerial photographs of locations throughout England are available on open access in the NMR search rooms. The NMR also holds more than two million vertical (bird's-eye view) aerial photographs, covering the whole of England, including near-complete coverage taken by the RAF in 1946-48. These are available via a search request from the NMR's Enquiry and Research Service team.The ‘Britain from Above’ project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
is currently underway to digitise and catalogue 95,000 of the Aerofilms
Aerofilms
Aerofilms Ltd was the UK's first commercial aerial photography company, founded in 1919 by Francis Wills and Claude Graham White. Wills had served as an Observer with the Royal Naval Air Service during the Great War, and was the driving force behind the expansion of the company from an office and a...
aerial image negatives from 1919-1953 and put them online.
Survey Photographs
The photographs taken by the RCHME and English Heritage survey teams, which range from workers’ cottages to power stations, are also available.Online resources
Approximately 20% of the archive ie over 2 million records, can be searched online.The main online resources are:
- Viewfinder – contains historic images of England from the 1850s to the present day. Many aspects of England's industrial heritage, architecture and archaeology, as well as some social and local history, can been seen.
- Images of England - over 300,000 contemporary photographs of England’s listed buildings and monuments.
- Pastscape - over 400,000 records on England’s archaeological sites (including maritime sites) and architecture. With links to historic and modern maps and aerial photographs where available.
- English Heritage Archives - over a million free online catalogue descriptions of photographs and records of England's buildings and heritage sites.
- The National Heritage List for England - database of all 400,000 nationally designated heritage assets ie listed buildings; scheduled monuments; protected wreck sites; registered battlefields and registered parks and gardens.
- Heritage Gateway - a partnership with the Association of Local Government Archaeology Officers (ALGAO) and the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBA) to share local records on listed buildings
Personal visitors
For access to the wider archive, not just the material available online, it is possible to call, write or visit the National Monuments Record in Swindon, Wiltshire. Although an appointment is not necessary, it is recommended to contact them in advance.In addition to accessing the collections, visitors to the NMR can also make use of the reference library. This includes the entire collection of Country Life
Country Life (magazine)
Country Life is a British weekly magazine, based in London at 110 Southwark Street, and owned by IPC Media, a Time Warner subsidiary.- Topics :The magazine covers the pleasures and joys of rural life, as well as the concerns of rural people...
and Architects Journal
Architects Journal
The Architects' Journal is a weekly architectural magazine published in London by Emap. The first edition was produced in 1896. Commonly referred to by architects as the AJ, its articles cover matters of more immediate interest than its sister publication the Architectural Review...
magazines going back to the 19th century, both of which feature plans and photographs of thousands of homes, country estates, commercial and civic buildings.
Enquiry and research services
The NMR offers a remote enquiry service providing a comprehensive search for information on areas of interest. Search requests are handled free of charge provided they fall within standard search criteria (for example, a single building per enquiry). To request a more detailed search, such as a thematic search, the NMR will advise details of services and relevant fees.See also
- National Monuments Record of ScotlandNational Monuments Record of ScotlandThe National Monuments Record of Scotland was the term used for the archive of the sites, monuments and buildings of Scotland's past maintained by Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The separate name for the archive is no longer given prominence in RCAHMS...
- National Monuments Record of Wales
- National Register of Historic Parks and GardensNational Register of Historic Parks and GardensIn England, the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by English Heritage under the provisions of the National...