Maps and Mapping at the Royal Commission - Tom Pert

Since its establishment in 1908, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales has been recording archaeological and historic sites and monuments both spatially and cartographically. The role of the Commission both as a public archive of maps, and as a map producing body supplying map depictions of archaeological sites to the Ordnance Survey, is unique in Wales.

In this presentation the wealth of cartographic and spatial material available to researchers within the Royal Commission’s archive will be revealed. The ways in which staff at the Commission utilise these resources to record, interpret and present the past will also be explored. The opportunities that members of the public have to access and use these resources will also be discussed. Finally, there will be an exploration of the potential offered by new and emerging technologies such as Augmented and Virtual Reality to depict sites and landscapes of the past.

1. Maps and Mapping at the Royal Commission; Putting the Past in its Place CBHC | RCAHMW Tom Pert

2. As well as more than 3 million pages of text, 2 million photographs and 70,000 drawings, the NMRW holds OS ‘Old Series’ 1” maps (1805-73) OS County Series 25” maps (Unique set of OS Surveyors working maps, showing revisions between 1 st and 2 nd editions) OS 6” maps (pre- and post-British National Grid) Modern OS Landranger (1:50k) and Pathfinder (1:25k) series OS 1:10,000 series (annotated maps, an index to National Archaeological Record cards) Early twentieth-century estate sales catalogues Historical maps – Ancient Britain, Roman Britain, Antonine Wall etc. Reprints of early maps including Ogilby’s ribbon road map (1675), Blaeu’s County of Glamorgan (1645), Bowen’s maps of south Wales (1729), Speed’s plan of Cardiff (1610) and others Admiralty charts Welsh coastal waters Maps in the National Monuments Record of Wales CBHC | RCAHMW

3. Maps for publications CBHC | RCAHMW

4. Maps for publications CBHC | RCAHMW

5. Maps for publications – work in progress CBHC | RCAHMW

6. GIS at the Royal Commission CBHC | RCAHMW

7. Archaeological Datasets CBHC | RCAHMW

8. 1:625,000 CBHC | RCAHMW

9. 1:50,000 CBHC | RCAHMW

10. 1:10,000 CBHC | RCAHMW

11. Aerial Imagery (2009, 2013, 2016 coming soon) CBHC | RCAHMW

12. OS MasterMap CBHC | RCAHMW

13. OS County Series 25”/mile (1 st edition 1880) CBHC | RCAHMW

14. OS County Series 25”/mile (2 nd edition 1906) CBHC | RCAHMW

15. OS County Series 25”/mile (3 rd edition 1915) CBHC | RCAHMW

16. OS Town Plans (Aberystwyth 1887 1:500) CBHC | RCAHMW

17. 1 st edn 25”/mile coverage CBHC | RCAHMW

18. 3 rd edn 25”/mile coverage CBHC | RCAHMW

19. OS Town Plans – 26 towns in Wales CBHC | RCAHMW

20. OS Town Plan - Pembroke (1861-64, 1:500) CBHC | RCAHMW

21. OS County Series 25”/mile (1 st edition 1866) CBHC | RCAHMW

22. RAF Vertical Aerial Photo – Swansea 1947 CBHC | RCAHMW

23. OS Vertical Aerial Photo – Swansea 1981 CBHC | RCAHMW

24. NAW Vertical Aerial Photo – Swansea 2009 CBHC | RCAHMW

25. RCAHMW holds a vast amount of aerial photography. Our principle collections: RAF Vertical Aerial Imagery (1945-1954) RAF Oblique Aerial Imagery (1945-1962) OS Vertical Aerial Imagery (1962-2009) Aerofilms Collection (1919-1953) Royal Commission Aerial Reconnaissance (1986-Present) Aerial photography CBHC | RCAHMW

26. These images where primarily used by the Ministry for Town and Country Planning during the post war years to aid with the reconstruction of British towns and cities following the devastation caused by aerial bombardment during the war. All photographs where captured at a rough scale of 1:10,000 in stereo pairs. RAF Vertical Aerial Imagery (1945-1954) CBHC | RCAHMW Aberystwyth, 9 th May 1946

27. Finding Aids – RAF Verticals CBHC | RCAHMW

28. In conjunction with the systematic vertical survey of the British Isles, the RAF also undertook oblique aerial photographic surveys. The most notable of these were the surveys of the Welsh coast which was undertaken twice by the RAF from 1945-52, and 1959-62. RAF Oblique Aerial Imagery ( 1945-1962) CBHC | RCAHMW Shell Island c.1962 The oblique aerial photographs within the NMRW include both sideways and forward-facing obliques, again mostly captured as stereo pairs.

29. The Ordnance Survey took over civilian aerial photography operations from the RAF in 1958. The OS used aerial photography for the creation and revision of their cartographic products, a technique that continues to this day. The Commission holds all OS vertical imagery from 1962 to 2009, all of which are in stereo pairs. OS Vertical Aerial Imagery ( 1962-2009) CBHC | RCAHMW Swansea c.1982

30. Finding Aids – OS Verticals CBHC | RCAHMW

31. Finding Aids – OS Verticals CBHC | RCAHMW

32. RCAHMW Aerial Reconnaissance Collection (1986-Present) CBHC | RCAHMW Stack Rock Fort, Pembrokeshire Aerial reconnaissance at the Royal Commission began in 1986, initially to record the condition of Scheduled Ancient Monuments. Since then the flying programme has developed into an on-going project which monitors and records the condition of sites, monuments and landscapes across Wales. It is also an invaluable technique for the discovery of previously unrecorded archaeological sites.

33. Finding Aids – RCAHMW Aerial Reconnaissance Collection CBHC | RCAHMW

34. The Aerofilms Collection was a UK wide commercial archive of over one million aerial photographs dating from 1919 to 2006. A successful HLF bid supported by the RCAHMW, RCAHMS and English Heritage culminated in the ‘Britain from Above’ project which saw the curation and digitisation of all glass negatives dating from 1919 to 1953. All of these images are available for free online. The majority of the collection are oblique aerial photography and offer great insight of the developing landscapes of the 20 th century. Aerofilms Collection (1919 – 1953) CBHC | RCAHMW

35. Finding Aids – Aerofilms Collection CBHC | RCAHMW

36. Maritime GIS – OceanWise data CBHC | RCAHMW

37. Maritime GIS – Sea bed DTM CBHC | RCAHMW

38. GIS – Surface Analysis CBHC | RCAHMW

39. GIS – Surface Analysis CBHC | RCAHMW

40. GIS – Surface Analysis CBHC | RCAHMW

41. GIS – Surface Analysis CBHC | RCAHMW

42. Spatial Analysis - Intervisibility CBHC | RCAHMW

43. Spatial Analysis – Climate change CBHC | RCAHMW Distribution Map outlining potential sites within the NMRW which may be at risk from sea level rise of 1m

44. Antiquities on Ordnance Survey Maps CBHC | RCAHMW 1979 review of Ordnance Survey functions recommends responsibilities for recording and surveying of antiquities be transferred to the Royal Commissions Since 1983 the Royal Commissions have been supplying basic scale survey data to the OS for publication on its maps – a function that continues (even though two of the three Royal Commissions no longer exist !)

45. Pen’r allt

46. Remote Sensing CBHC | RCAHMW Example of 2m LiDAR data its coverage for Wales Developments in technology have both increased the availability and reduced the costs of remote sensing data. LiDAR Radar Imagery (multi-spectral, UAV & Satellite) LiDAR, radar, aerial and satellite imagery is increasingly being used to identify and visualise sites and landscapes

47. Remote Sensing - seeing the unseeable CBHC | RCAHMW

48. 3D Visualisation & Virtual Reality CBHC | RCAHMW Reconstruction animation of Hafod Copper Works, Swansea

49. Augmented Reality CBHC | RCAHMW

50. The future is participatory CBHC | RCAHMW

51. The future is participatory CBHC | RCAHMW

52. The future is participatory CBHC | RCAHMW

53. The future is participatory CBHC | RCAHMW

54. The future is participatory CBHC | RCAHMW Advances in technology mean that we can now both present and collect spatial data in all sorts of ways The intelligent use of engaged audiences can allow us to undertake data gathering or processing activities that would have seemed unthinkable in the recent past These new cooperative relationships between institutions and their users are beneficial for both parties; crowdsourcing contributors can feel more engaged, valued and gain an enhanced understanding of an institution and its projects, while the institution can generate vast amounts of useful information, at the same time developing a cohort of enthusiastic supporters

55. enwaulleoeddhanesyddol.cbhc.gov.uk historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk

56. enwaulleoeddhanesyddol.cbhc.gov.uk historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk

57. enwaulleoeddhanesyddol.cbhc.gov.uk historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk

58. enwaulleoeddhanesyddol.cbhc.gov.uk historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk

59. enwaulleoeddhanesyddol.cbhc.gov.uk historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk

60. meysyddbrwydro.cbhc.gov.uk battlefields.rcahmw.gov.uk

61. meysyddbrwydro.cbhc.gov.uk battlefields.rcahmw.gov.uk

62. Diolch am wrando CBHC | RCAHMW Cysylltwch / Contact Ebost: [email protected] Email: t [email protected] @rcahmwales www.cbhc.gov.uk / www.rcahmw.gov.uk www.coflein.gov.uk