English Heritage Archive

The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly the Swindon Works, next door to the National Trust HQ.

It is a public 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.

The Historic England Archive was part of English Heritage from 1999 until 2015, when the organisation divided into two parts and Historic England retained the statutory and advisory role. However, its roots go back to 1908 and the foundation of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (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, e.g. 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.

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