The GeoInformation? Group, publishers of Cities Revealed and UKMap, has supplied Horsham DC with historic aerial photography coverage during the 1950s to help fulfill its legal contaminated land duties.
Having undergone a thorough search of the Horsham area, The GeoInformation Group identified the 1959 aerial survey as being the most complete post-war, mid 20th century 'cover'. Around 300 individual photographs were geo-rectified and mosaiced to create a 25 cm resolution, GIS compliant dataset that can be used to review the area for potentially contaminative land uses.
As a predominantly rural area there were significant intervals between large scale Ordnance Survey mapping epochs. However, Cities Revealed Historic has provided the Council with a valuable source of detailed land use information at a point in history when the Ordnance Survey mapping had yet to reflect the changes occurring during the wartime and post-war periods.
'Our problem in Horsham was that there is a lengthy period for which map revisions were not issued, so we have a gap of many decades which somehow we needed to fill', comments Horsham DC's Contaminated Land Officer. 'The historical imagery turns what might have been 90 per cent guesswork into 80 per cent certainty. It conveys the information we needed in order to make contaminated land prioritisation possible'.
The Council uses the historic photography 'almost daily' and it is proving an invaluable resource. 'It has enabled me to positively locate a number of municipal landfills operated by predecessor authorities whose records are now fragmented or lost', Horsham's Contaminated Land Officer continues; 'For example, we knew of a site that was a fairly short-lived landfill in the 1960s but we were not certain of its location. The 1959 photography, taken prior to the landfill's existence, shows a small clay pit where the rubbish was deposited and could potentially pose a contamination risk today'.
A site in a village in the south of district provides a classic example of how imagery can help to unravel complex site histories. The site, now mostly housing, was formerly the Town Gas Works. The 1959 imagery shows that gas production was by then over: the retort house no longer exists. Adjacent apparently unused parts of this site show tyre tracks indicating activity in addition to the later builder's yard and another area shows tanks of fuel oil alongside a stream.
Elsewhere, a hospital that reached its greatest extent during World War Two can be planned almost completely. The wartime phase of the hospital came and went between mapping epochs, but the historic photographs show the true coverage of the place; an important consideration in light of the use of construction materials such as asbestos cement panels and insulation, once liberally installed.
The historic imagery will soon be made available to other departments within Horsham DC where it will be used by staff working in development control. It will also provide the general public with access through the local history service once the necessary arrangements are complete.
Historic photography is available for purchase from The GeoInformation Group by calling 01223 880077 or email info@citiesrevealed.com