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Picturing England: Previously unseen photographs chart 150 years of English history

More than 300 images illustrate the changing appearance of English builldings, landscapes and people

Matilda Battersby

Friday 03 July 2015 16:10 BST

The Holborn Viaduct under construction, City of London 11 September 1869 (Henry Dixon (1820-93)/Historical England)

Incredible images from the unparalleled – and mostly untapped - archive at Historic England, an archive of English history, people, and places, are being made available to the public for the first time.

Diamond Jubilee decorations, St James’s Street, London 1897 (York & Son/Historic England)

From Edwardian shooting parties captured in all their finery to Blitzed churches, Picturing England is an revealing journey through 150 years of English history via beautifully-preserved photographs.

Birmingham Town Hall, Victoria Square, Birmingham 1941 (George Bernard Mason (1896-1985), National Building Record)

Henry Tount on his houseboat, Oxford, Oxfordshire, 1985 (Historical England)

More than 300 images illustrate the changing appearance of English buildings, landscapes, and people, all the while revealing how the method, subject matter and purpose of photography has dramatically evolved over time.

Goosemire, Mardale, Cumbria 1935 (Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England)

St Paul’s Cathedral from Southwark Bridge, City of London 1855-9

Picturing England
pinpoints crucial turning points in the history of photography, demonstrating how inventions such as the picture postcard, the handheld camera and the aeroplane changed the medium forever. It also provides an intimate insight into lost social worlds: from mischievous Victorian family photo albums to labourers working on the 1920 restoration of Stonehenge.

Group Portrait in costume, possibly at Manor House, Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire April 1878 (J B Leventhorpe (1855-1929)/Historical England)

Egg gatherers, Flamborough, East Yorkshire July 1926 (Walter Scott Ltd)

Rotherhithe Tunner under construction, Southwark, London 30 November 1906 (Historical England)

Oxford Arms Inn, Oxford Arms Passage, Warwick Lane, City of London 1875 (A& J Bool/Historical England)

Barton Swing Aqueduct, Bridgewater Canal, Trafford, Greater Manchester 1945-54 (Eric de Mare (1910-2002)/Historical England)

To tie in with publication of Picturing England, a free exhibition of the images from will run until 21 September at The Library of Birmingham.

Picturing England, The photographic collections of Historic England by Mike Evans, Gary Winter & Anne Woodward is £45

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