The Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography (CUCAP) is the result of airborne survey campaigns which were started in 1947 by the pioneering JK St Joseph. Since then the collection has grown to almost 500,000 images of obliques and verticals in black and white, colour and infra-red. Virtually the whole of Britain has been covered, with the obliques depicting a wide variety of landscapes and features and the verticals being of survey quality, can be used in mapping projects.
Some of the uses of CUCAP images include archaeology, geology, social history, law (land/border disputes), environmental issues (coastal erosion), planning as well as general interest.
Featured images
Explore some of the very best images in the collection.
Themes
Browse by keyword.
- Panorama (17,065)
- Coast (16,076)
- Village (11,675)
- Castle (11,181)
- Earthworks (10,317)
- Roman camp (9,481)
- Nature reserve (8,799)
- Roman fort (8,094)
- Native settlement (7,224)
- Estuary (5,249)
- Town (4,872)
- Port (4,713)
- Area survey (4,093)
- Afforestation (3,717)
- Lake (2,958)
- Roman town (2,244)
- Harbour (2,081)
- Cairn (1,945)
- Celtic fields (1,801)
- Rath (1,647)
- Agricultural landscape (1,636)
- Henge (1,431)
- Escarpment (1,288)
- Sand dunes (1,209)
- School (1,051)
- Roman villa (1,003)
- Bridge (991)
- Reservoir (981)
- Moat (971)
- Roman road (895)
- Quarrying (891)
- Ring ditch (768)
- University (768)
- Isolated church (714)
- Cursus (691)
- Beacon (649)
- Hillfort (634)
- Agricultural estate (601)
- Marginal land (550)
- Cathedral (546)
- Fair (543)
- Mining (526)
- Dry valley (476)
- Dam (470)
- Motorway (453)
- Ancient agriculture (447)
- Military survey area (439)
- Country house (435)
- Industrial area (435)
- Cave (429)
- Housing estate (421)
- Farm Surveys (410)
- Landslip (408)
- Gorge (407)
- Hadrian's Wall (404)
- Landscape gardening (368)
- Newtown (362)
- fortlet (350)
- Corrie (306)
- Roman fortlet (300)
- Lynchets (294)
- Vegetation patterns (281)
- Roman fortress (275)
- Erosion (272)
- Field enclosures (231)
- Hospital (229)
- Golf course (220)
- Stone circle (217)
- Pingo (214)
- Esker (212)
- Square barrow (212)
- Soil creep (210)
- Soil erosion (208)
- Decoy (207)
- Deserted croft (203)
- Lighthouse (198)
- Moraine (197)
- Sand spit (195)
- Interrupted ditch (189)
- Long barrow (188)
- Flooded coast (172)
- Hut circle (171)
- Antonine Wall (167)
- Palace (166)
- Civil War fort (162)
- Limestone pavement (159)
- Orchard (153)
- Pier (150)
- Farm buildings (145)
- Roman signal station (145)
- Roman supply base (140)
- Religious house (138)
- Chambered cairn (134)
- Exposed foreshore (128)
- Drumlins (117)
- Glacial overflow channel (117)
- Roman civil settlement (115)
- Birds (112)
- Plateau (110)
- Raised beach (109)
- Ancient trackways (108)
- Deserted settlement (108)
- Land reclamation (107)
- Cemetery (102)
- Manor house (102)
- Pillow mound (102)
- Sand banks (99)
- Windmill (95)
- Stack (92)
- Derelict mining area (87)
- Fire (85)
- Roddons (78)
- Airport (77)
- Scree (76)
- Caravan park (75)
- Monastic grange (70)
- Deer park (68)
- Deserted farmstead (68)
- Roadworks (68)
- Saxon cemetery (64)
- Glacial valley (63)
- Marina (63)
- Storm damage (63)
- Roman settlement (62)
- Fishponds (60)
- Race course (60)
- Cliff-top fort (59)
- Roman theatre (58)
- Folly (57)
- Linear earthworks (57)
- Field pattern (55)
- Aqueduct (54)
- Gas terminal (54)
- Saxon settlement (51)
- Medieval mining (45)
- Roman aqueduct (43)
- Market gardening (42)
- Mud flats (40)
- Ski slope (40)
- Saxon cathedral (39)
- Development site (36)
- Reconditioned ground (35)
- Wildfowl refuge (35)
- Neolithic settlement (34)
- Land settlement (33)
- Stockaded enclosure (33)
- Agricultural college (32)
- Incised valley (32)
- Waterfall (31)
- Columnar jointing (30)
- Corrie lake (29)
- Roman temple (28)
- Tramroad (28)
- Railway yard (26)
- Oil storage depot (25)
- Round barrow (25)
- Sand bar (25)
- Medieval quarrying (24)
- Searchlight site (24)
- Ancient mining (23)
- Mesolithic settlement site (23)
- Ridgeway (23)
- Roman barrow (23)
- Sewage works (23)
- Standing stones (23)
- Land improvement (22)
- Early Christian site (21)
- Solution hole (20)
- Subsidence (20)
- Abandoned meander (19)
- Dark-Age settlement (19)
- Hill figure (19)
- Railway station (18)
- Ridge-and-furrow ploughing (18)
- Open fields (17)
- Observatory (16)
- Oil pumping station (16)
- Zoo (16)
- Agricultural institute (15)
- Civil War earthworks (15)
- Gas works (15)
- Interrupted ditch-system (15)
- Interrupted ring ditch (14)
- Osier beds (14)
- Kettle hole (13)
- Ritual monument (13)
- Belgic oppidum (12)
- Glaciated rock surface (12)
- Roman canal (12)
- Earth pillars (11)
- Explosion crater (11)
- Oil rig depot (11)
- Roman bridge (11)
- Weathering (11)
- Vitrified fort (10)
- Water meadow (10)
- Crannog (9)
- Oil field (9)
- Practice trenches (9)
- Viaduct (9)
- Canal depot (8)
- Derelict industrial area (8)
- Geological stratification (8)
- Glacial lake (8)
- Glacial lake beaches (8)
- Maze (8)
- Canal aqueduct (7)
- Canal basin (7)
- Plant disease (7)
- Roman tomb (7)
- Tunnel (7)
- Agricultural intakes from moorland (6)
- Holiday camp (6)
- Paddocks (6)
- Railway junction (6)
- Stone alignment (6)
- Tower house (6)
- Canal lock (5)
- Field drains (5)
- Incised river (5)
- Oil pipeline terminal (5)
- Railway viaduct (5)
- Water mill (5)
- Allotments (4)
- Canal tunnel (4)
- Delta (4)
- Deserted mining village (4)
- Lava plateau (4)
- Martello tower (4)
- Souterrain (4)
- Aretes (3)
- Igneous intrusion (3)
- Isthmus (3)
- Oil drilling rig (3)
- Ring ditch cluster (3)
- Roman bath-house (3)
- Roman quarrying (3)
- Rowing course (3)
- Saxon church (3)
- Settlement pattern (3)
- Traffic queue (3)
- Twin villages (3)
- Water works (3)
- Deserted town (2)
- Gas pipeline (2)
- Roman mining (2)
- Airstrip (1)
- Battlefield (1)
- Explosion damage (1)
- Nineteenth-century fort (1)
- Palaeolithic settlement site (1)
- Roman ampitheatre (1)
- Timber buildings (1)
- Vehicle dump (1)
Areas
Browse by geographical area.
- Aberdeen City (713)
- Aberdeenshire (6,240)
- Adur (76)
- Allerdale (2,004)
- Amber Valley (178)
- Angus (3,687)
- Argyll and Bute (6,318)
- Arun (423)
- Ashfield (159)
- Ashford (877)
- Aylesbury Vale (2,669)
- Babergh (2,072)
- Barking and Dagenham (67)
- Barnet (0)
- Barnsley (581)
- Barrow-in-Furness (363)
- Basildon (135)
- Basingstoke and Deane (2,619)
- Bassetlaw (1,534)
- Bath and North East Somerset (319)
- Bedford (1,958)
- Bexley (9)
- Birmingham (2,770)
- Blaby (114)
- Blackburn with Darwen (139)
- Blackpool (50)
- Blaenau Gwent (196)
- Bolsover (224)
- Bolton (231)
- Boston (871)
- Bournemouth (346)
- Bracknell Forest (72)
- Bradford (794)
- Braintree (831)
- Breckland (3,523)
- Brent (80)
- Brentwood (165)
- Bridgend (1,281)
- Brighton and Hove (133)
- Bristol (481)
- Broadland (1,635)
- Bromley (21)
- Bromsgrove (438)
- Broxbourne (32)
- Broxtowe (154)
- Burnley (94)
- Bury (86)
- Caerphilly (556)
- Calderdale (558)
- Cambridge (4,753)
- Camden (8)
- Cannock Chase (392)
- Canterbury (1,283)
- Cardiff (573)
- Carlisle (1,208)
- Carmarthenshire (2,821)
- Castle Point (306)
- Central Bedfordshire (3,146)
- Ceredigion (4,969)
- Charnwood (633)
- Chelmsford (902)
- Cheltenham (21)
- Cherwell (822)
- Cheshire East (717)
- Cheshire West and Chester (1,356)
- Chesterfield (20)
- Chichester (2,138)
- Chiltern (269)
- Chorley (193)
- Christchurch (214)
- Clackmannanshire (110)
- Colchester (1,537)
- Conwy (2,833)
- Copeland (987)
- Corby (310)
- Cornwall (4,227)
- Cotswold (2,396)
- County Durham (1,671)
- County of Herefordshire (4,224)
- Coventry (641)
- Craven (2,432)
- Crawley (33)
- Croydon (21)
- Dacorum (793)
- Darlington (224)
- Dartford (139)
- Daventry (1,804)
- Denbighshire (2,438)
- Derby (23)
- Derbyshire Dales (1,805)
- Doncaster (1,929)
- Dover (1,198)
- Dudley (1,256)
- Dumfries and Galloway (8,048)
- Dundee City (296)
- Ealing (0)
- East Ayrshire (756)
- East Cambridgeshire (6,091)
- East Devon (973)
- East Dorset (3,832)
- East Dunbartonshire (429)
- East Hampshire (832)
- East Hertfordshire (503)
- East Lindsey (3,789)
- East Lothian (1,493)
- East Northamptonshire (2,000)
- East Renfrewshire (90)
- East Riding of Yorkshire (6,614)
- East Staffordshire (503)
- Eastbourne (192)
- Eastleigh (254)
- Eden (2,516)
- Edinburgh (249)
- Elmbridge (16)
- Enfield (11)
- Epping Forest (287)
- Epsom and Ewell (0)
- Erewash (117)
- Exeter (82)
- Falkirk (851)
- Fareham (461)
- Fenland (3,642)
- Fife (1,826)
- Flintshire (1,401)
- Forest Heath (2,252)
- Forest of Dean (1,138)
- Fylde (265)
- Gateshead (350)
- Gedling (160)
- Glasgow City (325)
- Gloucester (120)
- Gosport (208)
- Gravesham (289)
- Great Yarmouth (1,026)
- Greenwich (98)
- Guildford (129)
- Gwynedd (8,498)
- Hackney (61)
- Halton (323)
- Hambleton (1,773)
- Hammersmith and Fulham (0)
- Harborough (1,095)
- Haringey (6)
- Harlow (18)
- Harrogate (1,448)
- Harrow (0)
- Hart (392)
- Hartlepool (177)
- Hastings (136)
- Havant (720)
- Havering (144)
- Hertsmere (32)
- High Peak (1,147)
- Highland (14,425)
- Hillingdon (45)
- Hinckley and Bosworth (241)
- Horsham (298)
- Hounslow (0)
- Huntingdonshire (7,422)
- Hyndburn (64)
- Inverclyde (81)
- Ipswich (62)
- Isle of Anglesey (1,951)
- Isle of Wight (2,372)
- Isles of Scilly (245)
- Islington (3)
- Kensington and Chelsea (0)
- Kettering (371)
- King's Lynn and West Norfolk (6,484)
- Kingston upon Hull (222)
- Kingston upon Thames (1)
- Kirklees (686)
- Knowsley (140)
- Lambeth (11)
- Lancaster (962)
- Leeds (1,474)
- Leicester (65)
- Lewes (406)
- Lewisham (0)
- Lichfield (1,322)
- Lincoln (68)
- Liverpool (493)
- London (10)
- Luton (256)
- Maidstone (188)
- Maldon (1,466)
- Malvern Hills (957)
- Manchester (82)
- Mansfield (278)
- Medway (2,736)
- Melton (644)
- Mendip (1,305)
- Merthyr Tydfil (297)
- Merton (4)
- Mid Devon (533)
- Mid Suffolk (1,511)
- Mid Sussex (130)
- Middlesbrough (36)
- Midlothian (659)
- Milton Keynes (2,112)
- Mole Valley (319)
- Monmouthshire (2,005)
- Moray (1,854)
- Na H-Eileanan an Iar (840)
- Neath Port Talbot (1,817)
- New Forest (3,025)
- Newark and Sherwood (2,801)
- Newcastle upon Tyne (254)
- Newcastle-under-Lyme (151)
- Newham (100)
- Newport (1,003)
- North Ayrshire (621)
- North Devon (1,215)
- North Dorset (1,906)
- North East Derbyshire (193)
- North East Lincolnshire (481)
- North Hertfordshire (1,852)
- North Kesteven (1,442)
- North Lanarkshire (382)
- North Lincolnshire (2,298)
- North Norfolk (4,807)
- North Somerset (714)
- North Tyneside (212)
- North Warwickshire (831)
- North West Leicestershire (571)
- Northampton (277)
- Northumberland (6,785)
- Norwich (209)
- Nottingham (99)
- Nuneaton and Bedworth (81)
- Oadby and Wigston (18)
- Oldham (165)
- Orkney Islands (308)
- Oxford (212)
- Pembrokeshire (1,779)
- Pendle (129)
- Perth and Kinross (7,412)
- Peterborough (4,827)
- Plymouth (229)
- Poole (512)
- Portsmouth (1,228)
- Powys (11,304)
- Preston (124)
- Purbeck (2,626)
- Reading (18)
- Redbridge (80)
- Redcar and Cleveland (340)
- Redditch (27)
- Reigate and Banstead (80)
- Renfrewshire (497)
- Rhondda, Cynon, Taff (1,361)
- Ribble Valley (799)
- Richmond upon Thames (1)
- Richmondshire (1,571)
- Rochdale (188)
- Rochford (488)
- Rossendale (147)
- Rother (825)
- Rotherham (579)
- Rugby (797)
- Runnymede (35)
- Rushcliffe (677)
- Rushmoor (254)
- Rutland (909)
- Ryedale (4,172)
- Salford (142)
- Sandwell (786)
- Scarborough (1,505)
- Scottish Borders (5,879)
- Sedgemoor (1,912)
- Sefton (717)
- Selby (1,177)
- Sevenoaks (212)
- Sheffield (957)
- Shepway (635)
- Shetland Islands (516)
- Shropshire (7,287)
- Slough (42)
- Solihull (1,760)
- South Ayrshire (993)
- South Bucks (282)
- South Cambridgeshire (14,881)
- South Derbyshire (837)
- South Gloucestershire (726)
- South Hams (1,262)
- South Holland (3,975)
- South Kesteven (2,743)
- South Lakeland (1,716)
- South Lanarkshire (1,970)
- South Norfolk (2,090)
- South Northamptonshire (1,172)
- South Oxfordshire (2,542)
- South Ribble (157)
- South Somerset (541)
- South Staffordshire (1,087)
- South Tyneside (191)
- Southampton (544)
- Southend-on-Sea (557)
- Southwark (32)
- Spelthorne (13)
- St. Albans (339)
- St. Edmundsbury (2,613)
- St. Helens (149)
- Stafford (730)
- Staffordshire Moorlands (471)
- Stevenage (15)
- Stirling (4,030)
- Stockport (165)
- Stockton-on-Tees (178)
- Stoke-on-Trent (172)
- Stratford-on-Avon (2,023)
- Stroud (1,182)
- Suffolk Coastal (3,774)
- Sunderland (324)
- Surrey Heath (123)
- Sutton (11)
- Swale (1,482)
- Swansea (2,735)
- Swindon (708)
- Tameside (130)
- Tamworth (322)
- Tandridge (206)
- Taunton Deane (404)
- Teignbridge (1,226)
- Telford and Wrekin (588)
- Tendring (2,062)
- Test Valley (1,822)
- Tewkesbury (950)
- Thanet (954)
- Three Rivers (100)
- Thurrock (1,202)
- Tonbridge and Malling (311)
- Torbay (320)
- Torfaen (162)
- Torridge (812)
- Tower Hamlets (66)
- Trafford (104)
- Tunbridge Wells (621)
- Uttlesford (1,550)
- Vale of Glamorgan (2,473)
- Vale of White Horse (1,581)
- Wakefield (792)
- Walsall (215)
- Waltham Forest (31)
- Wandsworth (1)
- Warrington (166)
- Warwick (704)
- Watford (18)
- Waveney (898)
- Waverley (528)
- Wealden (985)
- Wellingborough (649)
- Welwyn Hatfield (86)
- West Berkshire (1,437)
- West Devon (1,901)
- West Dorset (2,668)
- West Dunbartonshire (292)
- West Lancashire (523)
- West Lindsey (2,184)
- West Lothian (195)
- West Oxfordshire (2,383)
- West Somerset (1,993)
- Westminster (13)
- Weymouth and Portland (153)
- Wigan (328)
- Wiltshire (9,182)
- Winchester (2,630)
- Windsor and Maidenhead (262)
- Wirral (731)
- Woking (6)
- Wokingham (165)
- Wolverhampton (428)
- Worcester (128)
- Worthing (79)
- Wrexham (995)
- Wychavon (1,306)
- Wycombe (818)
- Wyre Forest (483)
- Wyre (283)
- York (425)
Purchasing images
The Collection is currently closed although you may contact us to register an interest in particular imagery.
A restricted number of medium resolution jpegs from the Collection are available for download through the Cambridge University Digital Library website under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC) license. We are, however, currently unable to deal with requests for high-resolution versions of these images for publication, other than for press purposes.
Please contact us if you have an urgent enquiry.