Collection of photos show the North East from the sky over the last 100 years
Famous landmarks across our region can now be seen from new heights, thanks to a new online map.
The Aerial Photograph Explorer tool, launched by Historic England displays over 400,000 birds-eye view photographs, which are available to view online for the first time.
The images from 1919 to the present day have been added to the collection, covering nearly 30%, approximately 15,000 square miles, of England.
In our region, it covers major areas of the North East including St James’ Park Football Stadium in Newcastle in 1927 and ancient archaeology in Northumberland.
Historic England say the platform will allow people immediate digital access to "a nationally-important collection of aerial photographs".
The image of St James’ Park is from October 1927, when only the west stand was covered, and Newcastle United entered the 1927-28 season as the First Divisions champions, led by their prolific goal-scoring captain Hughie Gallacher.
St James’ Park has been redeveloped over the years, with the stands being extended or rebuilt, resulting in the modern ground seen today.
In Northumberland, photography shows the Roman camps at Chew Green.
A fascinating image shows how a light dusting of snow highlights the ditches and banks of Roman military defences.
The site includes the overlapping remains of two temporary camps, two fortlets and a fort, indicating that this location was adapted and reoccupied by the Roman army over a number of years.
Also in Northumberland, an image captures the Multivallate Hillfort, West Hills.
The uplands of Northumberland are home to some of the best-preserved Iron Age hillforts in the country.
This example lies between Thropton and Rothbury and is known as a ‘multivallate’ hillfort, meaning that it has multiple circuits of defensive ramparts.
The fort is located in a strategic position, commanding extensive views across the Coquet Valley.
How was the collection created?
Around 300,000 of the photographs are the work of Historic England’s Aerial Investigation and Mapping team.
Established in 1967, the team takes photographs of England from the air to discover new archaeological sites, create archaeological maps and monitor the condition of historic sites across the country.
The remaining 100,000 images come from the Historic England Archive aerial photography collection, which numbers over two million images in total, and includes important historic photography, including interwar and post-war images from Aerofilms Ltd and The Royal Air Force.
By opening up these images to the public through this accessible online tool, Historic England hopes that people will use it to research their local areas, offering an insight into a century of changes and development.
They hope it will allow them potentially to make their own discoveries about their local areas, and provide industry professionals and local authorities with a useful resource to help planning, heritage projects and archaeological investigation.
Here are some more images from the gallery: