RCAHMS Aerial Photography
551 177
Description RCAHMS Aerial Photography
Date 1975 to 2006
Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography
Catalogue Number 551 177
Category All Other
Scope and Content This collection contains photographic and manuscript materials from the pre-digital age including: negatives from aerial photography sorties (black and white and colour); prints from aerial photography sorties (black and white and colour); colour 35mm slides from aerial photography sorties; flight logs.
Archive History This material has always remained in the custody of HES and its predecessor organisations; it has been appraised in line with the HES Appraisal Policy. Until the 1980s RCAHMS photography was ordered according to the county system. This was superceded by a system of numbers with a letter prefix during the 1980s. During a mass digitisation project 2017-18 the photographic prints were digitised and the collection put into its current arrangement.
System of Arrangement This material is arranged by year and sorties.
Related Material RCAHMS Aerial Photography Digital GB 551 178; Historic Environment Scotland records: GB 551/500/1/1
Access Conditions None
Administrative History RCAHMS established its aerial survey function in 1976, having conducted some trial flights in the previous year. The initial focus was on discovering and recording sites at threat from cultivation, especially cropmarks in lowland areas. The scope soon expanded to include recording of earthworks in upland areas and architectural sites. In a staged process between 2003 and 2005 aerial photography switched to digital which is held in the HES Digital Archive as a separate collection. The aerial survey function was retained in the creation of Historic Environment Scotland though by this time only used digital photography.
Accruals No further analogue materials will be created.
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