Images of Old England Are Caught in the Net

After conquering England in 1066, William of Normandy wanted to find out what he’d won and ordered a survey of every estate and manor in his new kingdom.

Almost 1,000 years later, England is doing it again--sort of. About 700 photographers are engaged in a three-year mission to document every historically and architecturally important building in the country.

But unlike the Doomsday Book of 1085--so-called because the thoroughness of William’s inquiry invited comparisons with Judgment Day--this survey isn’t being conducted to collect taxes or settle property disputes.

Instead, it is a high-tech preservation project that seeks to record how each of the country’s 360,000 protected, or “listed,” structures look at the outset of the 21st century.

The pictures will become part of a cyberspace photo library, which organizers say will be one of the largest in the world when completed in 2002. It will be an Internet catalog of England’s medieval castles, royal palaces, manor houses and even the distinctive red phone booths.

“I think it will rank alongside the Doomsday Book as a measure of what buildings were around at the turn of the millennium,” said John Webber, a Ministry of Defense photographer who volunteered his time to snap hundreds of photographs in his native Cambridgeshire.

“It is going to put down a marker for future generations,” he said.

The Images of England project, which is being financed by a $4.3-million government grant, also will make information about the country’s historical sites more readily accessible.

“There is no up-to-date photographic record of England’s listed buildings,” said Ann Vink, the project’s communications officer. “We wanted to make that record and, by placing it onto the Internet, we open up access to the whole of England’s built heritage to the rest of the world.”

England has been “listing” buildings of historical significance since 1948, when the destruction left by German bombers during World War II prompted officials to pay more attention to preserving the country’s heritage.

The list grows every year as more buildings are identified. It now includes 195 palaces, 422 castles, 14,393 churches and 3,380 country homes--as well as 1,076 lampposts, 95 public toilets and one racing-pigeon loft.

A “listed” building cannot be altered or demolished without permission. The government says the goal is not to “fossilize” a building, but rather to ensure that a structure’s architectural and historical importance is considered before alterations are made, inside or out.

Owners may apply for special grants to refurbish historic buildings and are not required to pay tax on some approved work.

When the Web site is complete, it will feature photographs of every protected structure. Users should be able to search by building type, period or geographical area. Officials also hope to allow people to find structures linked with notable people or to research a particular building.

“We hope to bring the official written descriptions, which are already in the public domain, to life,” Vink said.

Search for structures associated with Charles Dickens, and the database will offer a number of images, including one of a black bull statue in southwest London. The bull previously was used to advertise the Black Bull Inn in Holborn, mentioned by Dickens in “Martin Chuzzlewit” and demolished in 1904, the site explains.

More general searches turn up a 19th century pillory and whipping post in Coleshill in central England, the ruins of a 12th century castle in Dorset and the more famous St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Nearly all the pictures are accompanied by information that explains why they are considered worth preserving.

Sometimes the explanations are necessary. Take Terry’s Music store in Lincolnshire in eastern England--behind the unprepossessing facade, it is actually a medieval hall, according to the site.

“Part of the fascination of these images in the future will lie in the sense of time and place they provide,” said Barry Lane, general secretary of the Royal Photographic Society, which encouraged its members to volunteer for the project.

Vink said the photographers have been asked to capture a “defining image for each building as it looks today.”

“If it has scaffolding on it or cars parked around it, that is part of the record,” she said.

For the photographers involved in capturing the images, the project already has been something of a history lesson.

Lane said he has taken about 80 photographs of listed buildings in his home county of Somerset in southwestern England, including three listed buildings in his own village that he hadn’t known about.

“It’s been a great experience,” he said. “I’ve even gotten the chance to have a cup of tea in a few manor houses.”

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Images of England project: https://www.imagesofengland.org.uk