Aerial Photographs

Aerial photographs available at Huntingdon Record Office:
 

RAF Surveys

Systematic coverage of the County of Huntingdonshire was made by the RAF in 1945-46. At this time, Huntingdonshire County Council had a common boundary with the Soke of Peterborough County Council and all the land immediately South of the river (now the Southern suburbs of Peterborough) was part of Huntingdonshire. Therefore, aerial photographs of Fletton, Stanground, Orton Longueville and Orton Waterville are included. A set of these prints is available for consultation at Huntingdon Record Office.

 

Huntingdon Record Office also hold prints of various 1957-58 surveys made by the RAF of specific parts of the County. Those relevant to the Peterborough area include a set of photographs of Fletton, photographs of the A1 improvement work at Norman Cross, and the Peterborough City area. Note: All Royal Air Force photography is Crown Copyright: Huntingdon Record Office can only supply photocopies for private, unpublished research. Reprints may be obtained from the Task Progress Officer, JARIC, Royal Air Force, Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambs PE18 8QL. Questions about copyright and reproduction in publications should be addressed to the Ministry of Defence, CS(MPS) Co-ord 3B, Room 2/40, Metropole Building, Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5BL.

From the 1960s onwards local authorities ordered aerial photographs from private companies. Photographs of the Peterborough area taken on this basis include those within the systematic county coverage that was undertaken by BKS Surveys Ltd in 1971 on behalf of the County of Huntingdon and Peterborough. As well as some taken by Meridian Airmaps Ltd 1965 of the Nene Valley area; and those taken by Meridian in 1965 and 1969 of Peterborough. Sets of these prints are available for consultation at Huntingdon Record Office. As with the RAF surveys, Huntingdon Record Office can only supply photocopies for private research only, not for publication.

 

Aerial photographs held at Peterborough Central Library:

Aerofilms (with no rights of reproduction). Mostly oblique.
Peterborough City, mostly central area, 1924-1947.
Peterborough City, plus industrial estates, schools, factories etc c1969-c1982.
 
Cambridgeshire County Council (with no rights of reproduction).
All vertical (NB: all Ministry of Defence establishments have been blacked-out).
Peterborough District Council area, 1988.
 
Photoair (Mostly with rights of reproduction). Mostly oblique and mostly urban Peterborough, especially industrial estates, factories, office blocks, townships, Hampton, railways, hospitals, Business Park, Rivergate. Also Glinton By-pass under construction. All c1973-c2000.
 
Aerographics (with all rights of reproduction). Mostly oblique.
Urban Peterborough, especially the City Centre, Cathedral, Hampton under construction, Riverside Estate on Sugar Beet factory site).
Rural area: especially country houses (Milton Hall, Orton Hall, Thorpe Hall, Ufford Hall, Walcot Hall, Burghley House), farm buildings formerly monastic sites (Belsize, Northam, Eyebury, Oxney), castles (Maxey 'castle', Woodcroft Castle), and site of Norman Cross Prisoner of War Camp.
All 1999-2003.
Also A1 enlargement to motorway (Alconbury-Fletton Junction) 1997/98.
 
Other places to try:
The Ordnance Survey holds a large archive of aerial photographs from the early 1970s onwards: Contact Ordnance Survey
Ramsey Road
Maybush
Southampton
SO9 4DH
 
Cambridge University has also taken a large number of aerial photographs of this part of England: Contact the Department of Aerial Photography
Mond Building
Free School Lane
Cambridge
CB2 3RF
 
Both of these bodies supply prints. Peterborough City Council's Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) has oblique aerial photographs showing archaeological sites:
Contact Ben Robinson
Peterborough City Council Archaeology Service
Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery
Priestgate
Peterborough
PE1 1LF
 
Further information about aerial photographs may be found in NAPLIB's Directory of Aerial Photographic Collections in the UK (1993).
 
Peterborough City Council. Town Hall, Bridge Street, Peterborough, PE1 1QT - (01733) 747474 - DX12310 Peterborough 1