Welcome to the web pages for the Aerial Survey team

If you've been here before see what's been happening recently below with our latest news covering recent events and projects newly added to our pages.

Want to see what work we've carried out in your area?

 The Aerial Survey Team covers the whole of England. Some of our projects cover large areas up to and including whole counties, others target smaller sites for more detailed work. See what we've been doing in your area.

The job of the Aerial Survey team is to provide a greater understanding of England's historic environment through aerial reconnaissance, combined with interpretation, mapping and analysis of information contained on aerial photographs and related sources. We work closely with many of English Heritage's specialist teams, particularly the Landscape Detectives and the Conservation Teams who cover every region of the country, but also the Historic Buildings Teams for whom the images produced by our aerial reconnaissance team are a great help. We also work with many partners outside English Heritage, from national organisations to local amateur groups and provide regular work placements for university students wishing to learn more about the work of the team.

What is aerial survey?

Aerial Survey is the broad term used to describe the various activities related to the discovery of archaeological sites from the air. This includes both the actual taking of new photographs and the mapping and interpretation carried out using both new and previously existing photographs.

Aerial survey is the single most important tool for the discovery of archaeological sites in this country. Each year literally hundreds of previously unknown sites are discovered through the Aerial Reconnaissance programme carried out either by English Heritage's own staff or by individuals funded by English Heritage.

Where remains are visible solely as cropmarks or soilmarks, often only a small window is seen, and it takes many years of reconnaissance to build up a picture of the whole landscape.

Find out more about how sites appear from the air and what we can learn about them from What we see?. Also find out about New Technology used by the Aerial Survey Team using sources other than just the humble aerial photograph.

As well as new sites recorded each year from the air we are undertaking the National Mapping Programme. This is a long term programme of mapping from existing photographs adds several thousand new sites to the national and local record each year. In addition to entirely new sites important new information is added to known sites. The Aerial Survey Team is based in the English Heritage offices in Swindon and York together with some projects based in different counties around the country. Team members are archaeologists who specialise in aerial photographic interpretation, working primarily with aerial photographic material but also other sources of information. Their expertise covers aerial reconnaissance (surveying and photography in the air), interpretation of and mapping from aerial photographs, quality control, monitoring projects and setting standards, analysis, synthesis and publication of results.

For further information on a project or any other aspect of the work of the Aerial Survey team please contact us at: AerialSurvey@english-heritage.org.uk.