About the NMR

The English Heritage NMRC buildings The National Monuments Record (NMR) is the public archive of English Heritage. It is one of the largest publicly accessible archives in the UK and the biggest dedicated to the historic environment.

In the archive we have over 10 million items including photographs, documents, plans and reports relating to the historic environment of England.

With photographs dating from the 1850s to the present day, many of the images are linked to our architectural and archaeological heritage.

Over 4 million aerial photographs, including many films taken from 1945 onwards by the RAF and Ordnance Survey.

English Heritage Library

The Library is based at the National Monuments Record in Swindon and holds over 60,000 book titles.  It includes extensive collections on archaeology and architecture, together with smaller sections on related topics such as maritime studies, industrial archaeology, archive preservation and management, aerial photography and place-names studies.

Around 1000 new titles are added to the library each year.  It also has around 400 current journal subscriptions.

Other NMR responsibilities - Heritage Datasets

The NMR is also responsible for the management and development of the historic environment databases of buildings and sites in England and its territorial waters.  These are known as the ‘heritage datasets’.