National repositories in England holding material on British buildings
Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford
- Access: The Print Room of the Department of Western Art is open to the public for the study of those drawings and prints not on display.
- Collections in the Department of Western Art include British topographical drawings and prints, including an extensive collection of drawings of Oxford, made for the Oxford Almanacks.
- Catalogues:
- Catalogue of the Collection of Drawings vol. 4 , The Earlier British Drawings: British artists and foreigners working in Britain born before c.1775 ed. David Blayney Brown (1982). Has a topographical index and images on microfiche.
- Online catalogues include the Western Art Drawings Collection.
The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
- Access: Not open to the general public or undergraduates. Application is by a recommendation form, completed by someone in a recognised position, for example an established member of staff at a British university. Access to manuscripts and early printed books is restricted to persons making a significant contribution to the body of knowledge at post-graduate level and details will need to be included on the application form. There is a charge.
- Collections: A number of England's earliest antiquarians left drawings and MSS to the Bodleian, including Sir William Dugdale, author of Antiquities of Warwickshire (1656) and the Monasticon Anglicanum (1655-73), the latter with Roger Dodsworth, whose collection is also in the Bodleian. Original drawings and MSS by John Aubrey (1627-97) and William Stukeley (1687-1765). Notes and sketches by Browne Willis for his books on cathedrals and monasteries. The largest topographical collection is that of Richard Gough (1735-1809).
- Catalogues:
- Online Catalogues of Western Manuscripts. A work in progress.
- Summary Catalogue of the Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
- Summary Catalogue of Post-Medieval Western Manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
The Bodleian Library Maproom
- Collection: a considerable collection of historic maps.
British Library, St Pancras, London
- Access: not generally open to the public, or to undergraduates. Access is restricted to those whose needs cannot be met by other libraries. Students wishing to make use of the library need to apply to the admissions office in person, with proof of postgraduate status, ID with their signature and two recent passport size colour photographs. This gives access to the main library and to the map library. There is an additional admission procedure for access to the manuscripts student's room, for which a letter of recommendation is required from someone in a recognised position. There is no charge.
- Collections:
- BL is the major repository for private records, including the royal collection, presented to the nation by George II in 1757. This includes many deeds and other records relating to property.
- There are large collections of topographical drawings. Hundreds of images of buildings mainly in Britain and the former British Empire can be viewed online via British Library Images Online and the BL Online Gallery.
- The BL Newspaper Library has acquired all newspapers published in the United Kingdom and in the (now) Republic of Ireland by legal deposit since 1822. The collections of English provincial, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish newspapers date back to the beginning of the eighteenth century, but are not comprehensive in the early years. The holdings of Irish newspapers are the best in the world, as the collection held in Dublin was largely destroyed in 1922 during the Civil War. Digisation has made much of this content searchable online via the British Newspaper Archive (free to search – page views by subscription). 19th-century content is also available for free in the British Library’s Reading Rooms in London and Yorkshire, and online via subscribing libraries as 19th Century British Library Newspapers.
- Catalogues:
- The MSS catalogue is online. This includes more recent material than the published catalogues.
- There is an online catalogue of photographs.
- Index of Manuscripts in the British Library 11 vols (1984-6) [Accessions to 1950] and British Library Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts 1950-55 index most deeds but not all topographical drawings by place.
- Tony Campbell (ed.), Indexes to Material of Cartographic Interest in the Department of Manuscripts, and to Manuscript Cartographic Items Elsewhere in the British Library, 3 vols (1992).
- Catalogue of the Manuscript Maps, Charts and Plans, and of the Topographical Drawings in the British Museum, 2 vols. (1844) covers drawings in the royal collection and Kaye collection (including a large number of late 18th-century drawings by S.H.Grimm.) Available digitally in pdf format, for which you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed:
- Catalogue of the Newspaper Library Colindale, 8 vols. (1975). (The British Library Newspaper Library was housed at Colindale Avenue, London until 8 November 2013.)
British Museum Department of Prints and Drawings, Great Russell Street, London WC18 3DG
- Access: Admission is by application form, signed by a referee.
- Catalogues:
- Laurence Binyon (ed), Catalogue of Drawings by British Artists and Artists of Foreign Origin Working in Great Britain Preserved in the British Museum (1884-1907).
- E.Croft-Murray and P.Hulton, Catalogue of British Drawings vol.1: XVI and XVII Centuries (1960).
The British Postal Museum and Archive, Freeling House, Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DL
- Collection: The archives of the British Post Office from the 17th century to the present day. It includes surveyor's reports on post office buildings from 1792, treasury letters detailing spending on buildings, and plans for some important Post Office buildings.
Church of England Records Centre, 15 Galleywall Rd., South Bermondsey, London SE16 3PB
- Access: Currently closed for renovation, but access to its holdings is available at Lambeth Palace Library (see below). Contact the CERC on 020 7898 1030 or archivist@c-of-e.org.uk and give five days notice of a visit to the LPL, so that the requested documents can be transferred.
- Collection: holds the archives of the central institutions of the Church of England and their predecessor organisations relating to the organisation and activities of the Anglican Church in England, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. These include the Queen Anne's Bounty (1704-1948), Church Building Commissioners (1818-1856), the Ecclesiastical Commissioners (1836-1948) and the Church Commissioners (1948-).
- Catalogues:
- CalmView: Joint online catalogue for the manuscript and archive collections held at Lambeth Palace Library and the Church of England Record Centre.
- Its collections have been catalogued by the National Register of Archives.
College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4BT
- Access: The heralds will conduct research in their collections on payment of a fee.
- Collection: The official overseers of English and Welsh heraldry, holding the largest British collection of heraldic documents. Also a cartulary not listed by Davis of the Roger family of Benham Valence, Berks.
- Catalogue: Louise Campbell, A Catalogue of Manuscripts in the College of Arms: Collections Vol.1 (1988).
- And see Sir B. Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland and Wales (1884).
- And see the volumes of The Harleian Society.
Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, The Strand, London WC2R 0RN
- Collections:
- The Witt Library covers paintings and drawings. It has a huge collection of photographs of paintings and drawings in public galleries and private hands.
- The Conway Library covers architecture and sculpture and has photographs of drawings in the British Architectural Library.
- Catalogue: The collection can be searched online at Art and Architecture.
- Services: It is often easier to order a photograph from the Courtauld than direct from the owner of the original.
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RB
- Collection: This museum belongs to the University of Cambridge and has an internationally important collection of art and antiquities. While it has no particular focus on topographical art, its huge collection of paintings, drawings and prints does include topographical items (especially of buildings in Cambridge).
- Catalogues: online catalogue, included in the combined catalogue Discover.
The Francis Frith Collection
- Collection: A commercial archive of photographs towns and villages in the British Isles taken from 1860-1970.
- Services: The catalogue can be searched and photographs ordered online.
The Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA
This museum of the domestic interior boasts a comprehensive library on the topic and furniture trade archive. Access is by appointment only.
Institution of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, Westminster, London, SW1P 3AA.
- Access is by appointment only.
- Collection: The archive contains institutional material (minutes and details of members from its foundation in 1818 onwards), the papers of engineers including William and Edward Mackenzie, John Smeaton, John Rennie and Thomas Telford, and drawings, photographs and prints of civil engineering projects.
Lambeth Palace Library, Lambeth, London SE1 7JU (tel. 0171 928 6222)
- Access: Letter of introduction required.
- Collection: The archive of the archbishops of Canterbury. It includes 16th and 17th-century surveys of clergy and churches. The records of the Incorporated Church Building Society 1840-80 are useful for the many new churches built in the 19th century.
- Catalogues:
- Dorothy M.Owen, A Catalogue of Lambeth Manuscripts 889 to 901 (Cartae Antiquae et Miscellanae) (1968).
- CalmView: Joint online catalogue with the Church of England Record Centre.
- Guide: Sources for Architectural History at Lambeth Palace Library.
The National Archives, Kew, London
Launched on 2 April 2003, it combines two previous organisations, the Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission, including the National Register of Archives.
- Access: Open to the general public, but requires two forms of identification on the first visit, when a reader's ticket will be issued - one proof of identity with a signature (such as a passport or bank card) and the other a proof of address (such as a driving licence or recent utility bill).
- Collection: The repository for central government records. It is the major source for buildings now or once in the ownership of the Admiralty, the Ministry of Defence, the Department of the Environment and the Crown, but this vast archive can also throw light on many other buildings through its records of taxation, registration, legal cases and Crown enquiries.
- Catalogue online.
- Image library online.
- Calendars: Many of the earlier records have been published in calendar series, listed in Mullins. All six volumes of the Catalogue of Ancient Deeds (abstracts of medieval deeds held by The National Archives), are available online.
- Lists and indexes: The PRO published two series of lists and indexes. Many more have been published by the List and Index Society. Riden, appendix 1: lists classes of records of use to local historians and the corresponding published list or index, where available.
- The Anglo-American Legal Tradition has photographed and made available online English legal records from the National Archives between 1272 and 1650 and covers the series CP40, KB27, E159, E368, and C33, JUST1 up to 1350 and most of the main series for the various equity courts.
- Guides:
- Guide to the Contents of the Public Record Office, 2 vols. (1963).
- Research
guides online include:
- Architectural Drawings in the National Archives
- Dissolution of the Monasteries
- Hearth Tax 1662-1689
- Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry III - Charles I
- Manorial records
- Maps in the National Archives
- National Farm Surveys of England and Wales, 1940-1943
- Probate Records
- Religious Houses and Their Lands, C.1000-1530
- Tithe Records
National Monuments Record Centre, Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2GZ (tel. 01793 414600)
Greater London collection is at: 55 Blandford Street, London W1H 3AF tel. 0171 208 8200.
- Collection: The collections of the former Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of England (now amalgamated with English Heritage). A large collection of photographs from 1840 arranged by parish; thousands of these can be searched online via ViewFinder and see Catalogue below. Estate sale particulars 1870s-1935, containing information on 27,867 buildings sold. They usually contain site maps and descriptive text on each of the houses, farms and villages being sold, often with photographs. Also: pre-1950 Country Life photos, postcards of country houses, RCHME measured drawings from 1941, photos of stained glass and images of all surviving medieval wall paintings. Database of all listed buildings. Special collections on windmills, railway stations. Card indexes to: obituaries in The Builder, drawings in The British Architect 1874-1900.
- Catalogue: online catalogue at English Heritage Archives. Advanced search includes the option to search only for records with images attached.
- Images of England. From 1999 hundreds of volunteer photographers from the Royal Photographic Society worked to capture a single defining image of the exterior of every listed building in England. These 360,000 images were linked to existing listing information about the buildings, creating a digital library of England's architectural heritage.
Royal Institute of British Architects Library, 66 Portland Place, London W1N 4AD
- Collections:
- The RIBA photograph collection: online database with thousands of images.
- Owns the country's principal collection of architectural drawings and other primary source material, which is now housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see below).
- Catalogues:
- The online catalogue covers the drawings collection and publications.
- British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects, Architecture in Manuscript, 1601-1996: guide to the British Architectural Library Manuscripts and Archives Collection, compiled by Angela Mace (1998).
- Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 20 vols. (1969-89).
Sir John Soane's Museum, 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WL2A 3BP
- Collection: The Research Library contains not only the archive of Sir John's Soane's own architectural practice, but drawings and designs by Robert Adam, John Thorpe and others, purchased by Soane. A set of microfilms of the drawings can be bought from Proquest Information and Learning.
- Catalogues:
- Concise Catalogue of Drawings. Excludes the drawings by Robert and James Adam.
- Walter L. Spiers (compiler), Catalogue of the Drawings and Designs of Robert and James Adam in Sir John Soane's Museum [microform] (1979). c.9000 items.
- Sir John Summerson, The Book of Architecture of John Thorpe, Walpole Society 40 (1966), reproduces all the Thorpe drawings from this collection.
- Richardson, M. and Stevens, M. (eds.), John Soane, Architect: Master of Space and Light (Royal Academy of Arts 1999). Lavishly illustrated catalogue of the exhibition of the same name.
The Society of Antiquaries of London, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BE
- Access: The library and archives of the Society are intended for the use of its Fellows, but permission can be sought to view unique material it holds.
- Collection: Thousands of drawings, mainly archaeological, but including drawings and plans of ancient and historic (mainly medieval) buildings and around 20,000 topographical drawings as well as a substantial number of prints. Manuscripts relating to the work of the Society include correspondence on its commission to John Carter in the 18th century to produce measured drawings of cathedrals for publication.
- Catalogues:
- A database of drawings and museum objects from the collections is available online through The Archaeology Data Service. (The images do not appear in all browsers. You may need to use Internet Explorer for full functionality.)
- The manuscripts are catalogued online via A2A.
Tate Britain, Millbank London SW1P 4RG
- Collection: The national gallery of British art from 1500 to the present day. Has the major collection of the works of Turner and many other topographical works, mainly 18th-century onwards. Searchable online image database.
Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington, London (tel. 0171 938 861)
- Access: Ring to make an appointment for access to research collections.
- Collections:
- The Archive of Art and Design (held at Blythe House, near Olympia in West London) includes architectural drawings, the working papers of some interior designers including the Crace firm, topographical views and a large collection of photographic postcards.
- The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) collection of architectural drawings - some 650,000 items - and papers of many architects and architectural organisations. For catalogues see the entry for RIBA above.
- Drawings and prints, including 1500 topographical images made for the Recording Britain scheme during World War II.
- Catalogues:
- Online searchable database of images.
- Alastair Rowan, Robert Adam (1988). Includes designs for Osterley Park and Syon House.
- Michael Snodin, (ed.), Sir William Chambers (1996). Over 800 drawings.
- Alexandra Wedgwood, A W N Pugin and the Pugin Family (1996). 1123 drawings and MSS.
- Michael Darby, John Pollard Seddon (1983). Almost 2000 architectural designs by the 19th-century architect.
- Pierre de la Ruffiniere du Prey, Sir John Soane (1985). 494 drawings.
- Guide: Lomas, E, Guide to the Archive of Art and Design, Victoria & Albert Museum (2001).