Late 17th century view of London by William Hollar
The Institute of Historical Research has been awarded a first-stage pass and development funding of £103,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a new interactive online resource tracing London’s history from the Roman period to the present day. The Centre for Metropolitan History, working with the Victoria County History, is leading the development of this resource that will create a multi-layered map of London drawing upon a wide variety of maps and archival materials, currently held in different collections.
A major element of the project will be to engage the public at borough level and city-wide, through crowd-sourcing, volunteer, schools and internship programmes, inviting them to upload photographs and personal histories. It will present the most comprehensive snapshot of London’s diverse history in one resource, and is unique in enabling the creation of new content by online users and volunteers, who will learn new skills and be encouraged to start new local heritage projects of their own.
Waterlow and Sons 1937 Map of London
A number of prestigious partners are involved, including: London Metropolitan Archives, Historic England, Museum of London Archaeology, The British Library, Senate House Library, The National Archives and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. The heritage assets contributed by the partners are incomparable sources of evidence and knowledge of all aspects of the history of London; they provide aesthetic, architectural, historic and scientific information on the city; and they have unique social and community value as records of everyday life, work and culture in the capital.
I would love to be involved in this project. I am an artist and writer.
Please let me know if there is any voluntary opportunities on this project. Such an interesting piece of work! (I am a geophysicist by training) Nicki
Great idea, please keep me informed.
Will you be covering East Ham, West Ham and Orchard Place my grandparents lived and worked there I have some photos and stories?
I am most interested in this project as It seems my Pittman family were living and community leaders within the Barking, Ilford and Loxford area in the 1600s to the early 1800s. There is a Pittman Gardens Estate in Barking I wonder what use Ancestry.com can lend to such a project? I live in Australia and hope to visit the area in a couple of years.
Regards Rob Pittman
Hello, we are working on a number of projects related to Blackheath and SE history. We have benefitted from an HLF grant in the past and have one under discussion at the moment. We would be interested in meeting to see whether cooperation with you on this interesting project might be mutually beneficial. Contact details are as above or at Allan Griffin, The Blackheath Society, The Old Bakehouse, Blackheath, SE3 9LA.
Fantastc project! How can I get involved? I’m currently planning a project about my school, Latymer Upper, and its four centuries of existence in one form or another in Hammersmith and have 20 yearsof experience working on heritage publishing projects.
love to help out have loads on the maps off London
Family Smith/Elstob/Marsh/Coxhead/ chessinghall-chessinghall / coper/ all had property in London and a few more names to add as well Bermondsey-Rotherhithe,, wapping east end and a few est and Building By Blake from Croydon ,, loads of info
Delighted to help if I can, please ask me if you need anything. Could be about specific districts or sectors or whatever.
This is very exciting! Is there any way to volunteer to contribute to it?