These historic aerial photos show what London looked like before World War II

London is an ever-changing city, with stuff being torn down and built back up again all the time. Parts of this city are unrecognisable compared to what they were even a half a decade ago. Just imagine how much things have changed over the course of an entire century.

If you’re fascinated by pictures of historic London, boy have we exciting news. Today (October 3) Historic England has just put live a huge collection of photographs on its website that were taken back in the 1930s. Called the Air Pictures Portleven Collection, it features 242 aerial images of UK landmarks taken by photographer Arthur William Hobart.

Hobart was a commercial photographer and his collection features images of everything from landmarks and seaside resorts to townscapes and industrial sites. Excitingly, it also features lots of photographs of places in London, capturing the city as it was nearly a century ago.

Here are some of the London sights and landmarks that feature in the newly-digitised collection.

Tower Bridge

St Paul’s Cathedral

Battersea Power Station (under construction)

The V&A

The Royal Albert Hall

Crystal Palace

Croydon Aerodrome

Twickenham Bridge (under construction)

The Den (Millwall Football Club)

About the collection, Historic England chief executive Duncan Wilson said: ‘Flicking through these photos lets you take flight over 1930s England, to see the changing face of the country in the interwar period. Many of us will not have seen so many well-known landmarks and sites from this fresh perspective provided by aerial photography.

‘We are the guardians of the largest national collection of aerial images in the country and hope that releasing this Collection helps inspire people to learn more about their local history through our online Aerial Photography Explorer tool.’

You can have explore the collection in full on Historic England’s website here.

Historic London with Time Out

Looking for more nostalgic snaps? Here are some of Oxford Street. Plus, Time Out has a guide to London’s best historic pubs, a sneak peek into a newly restored Grade II-listed cinema and behind-the-scenes photos at the revamped Crystal Palace Subway. 

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