General | Archaeology | Maps | UK History
UK History
General
Britain From Above
The Britain from Above website features images from the Aerofilms collection, a unique aerial photographic archive of international importance. The collection includes 1.26 million negatives and more than 2000 photograph albums. Dating from 1919 to 2006, the total collection presents an unparalleled picture of the changing face of Britain in the 20th century. It includes the largest and most significant number of air photographs of Britain taken before 1939.
https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en
British History Online
British History Online is a digital library of key printed primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain and Ireland, with a primary focus on the period between 1300 and 1800. They aim to support the learning, teaching and research of our users from around the world. BHO was founded by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust in 2003. Their collection currently contains over 1,270 volumes and is always growing.
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/
David Rumsey Map Collection
The David Rumsey Map Collection was started over 30 years ago and contains more than 150,000 maps. The collection focuses on rare 16th through 21st century maps of North and South America, as well as maps of the World, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. Digitization of the collection began in 1996 and there are now over 95,000 items online, with new additions added regularly. The site is free and open to the public.
http://www.davidrumsey.com/
English Heritage
English Heritage looks after the National Heritage Collection of more than 400 state-owned historic sites and monuments across England. It cares for and opens them to the public under a licence from Historic England that runs until 2023.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
Heritage Gateway
Search for information on England's historic sites and buildings, including images of listed buildings. This website allows you to cross-search almost 60 resources, offering local and national information relating to England’s heritage.
http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway/
Historic England
The public body that champions and protects England's historic places. It was first established in 1984 and until 1 April 2015 was commonly known as English Heritage.
https://historicengland.org.uk/
Historypin
Historypin was created to help people to come together from across different generations, cultures and places, around the history of their families and neighbourhoods.
https://www.historypin.org/en/
Medieval Soldier
A database containing the names of soldiers serving the English crown between 1369 and 1453.
http://www.medievalsoldier.org/
National Archives
A non-ministerial department and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. The National Archives collect and secure the future of the government record, from Shakespeare’s will to tweets from Downing Street, to preserve it for generations to come.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
NLS Maps
NLS Maps is run by National Library of Scotland but covers England and Wales in addition to Scotland.
https://maps.nls.uk/
Open Domesday
This is the first free online copy of Domesday Book, built as a non-profit project.
http://opendomesday.org/
ScotlandsPlaces
ScotlandsPlaces is a free resource that lets you explore thousands of records about Scotland simply by searching for a place name, clicking on a map or typing in your postcode. Search results bring together three national collections so that you can easily find maps, photographs and written records about your chosen place.
http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/
The Workhouse
All aspects of workhouse history, including locations, buildings, life, rules, memories, inmates, staff and administrators and more
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/
Vision of Britain
A Vision of Britain through Time brings together historical surveys of Britain to create a record of how the country and its localities have changed. Information comes from census reports, historical gazetteers, travellers' tales and historic maps
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp
World War I
Bedfordshire at War: News From the Front Line
This blog will cover the First World War day by day from 4th August 1914 to 11th November 1918. It will use local Bedfordshire newspapers and material held at Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Record Service. It maintains the fiction that a reporter a hundred years ago had access to on the spot and up to the minute news as a reporter in a war zone today might do.
http://bedsatwar.blogspot.co.uk/
Bedfordshire at War: News From the Home Front
This blog tells the story of the people of Bedfordshire during the First World War. Daily reports will be posted exactly one hundred years after the events they record. These will be compiled using local Bedfordshire newspapers and material held at Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Record Service.
http://bedshomefront.blogspot.co.uk/
British Library World War I
Supported by over 500 historical sources from across Europe, this resource examines key themes in the history of World War One. Explore a wealth of original source material, over 50 newly-commissioned articles written by historians, teachers' notes and more to discover how war affected people on different sides of the conflict.
http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one
Imperial War Museum First World War
Explore a variety of First World War topics in depth on the IWM website.
http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/first-world-war
Western Front Association
A very informative site which covers all aspects of the First World War, including articles on the land war, the naval and air war, and the people involved
http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/
World War II
Bomb Sight
The Bomb Sight project is mapping the London WW2 bomb census between October 1940 and June 1941. Previously available only by viewing in the Reading Room at The National Archives, Bomb Sight is making the maps available to citizen researchers, academics and students. They will be able to explore where the bombs fell and to discover memories and photographs from the period.
http://bombsight.org/
Second World War Experience Centre
The mission of the Second World War Experience Centre is to collect and encourage access to the surviving testimony of men and women who lived through the years of the Second World War and to ensure that different audiences share and learn from the personal recollections preserved in the collection.
http://www.war-experience.org/