Views

Views were used in the publication of charts and sailing directions, and occasionally for planning purposes.

Coastal views were created to provide navigators with depictions of the coast, especially harbours, ports, navigational lights, markers and hazards. Some of these views appeared on published Admiralty charts and in Admiralty sailing directions. They are found in albums and sketch books, as extracts from printed and manuscript charts. These views were created by Royal Navy, Merchant Navy and civilian personnel. They are of world-wide coastal and riverine scenes.

The quality and size of the views varies. Some are watercolour sketches; others are simple drawings in pen and ink. Many are published, such as engravings, photographs, lithographs and postcards. Some are thumbnail sketches, whereas the longest is 5 metres by 1 metre. This collection also contains photographic prints, hand drawn sketches, rolls of photographic film, tracings, drawings on film, some correspondence, all in varying shapes and sizes, from the 1830s up to the 1980s.

They provide a record of geological formations, physical geography, coastal topography, shipping, shore installations, lighthouses, navigational figures, forts and other buildings. They also show the work of the hydrographic surveyor over a period of 250 years. As drawing was a fundamental part of a young sailor’s education, there are some examples of views that are of a high standard and are works of art in their own right. Roughly speaking the quality of views accumulated by the Admiralty developed from some basic profiles into works of artistic merit by the end of the 18th century. By the end of the 19th century the practical use of views meant that the basic profile was all that was required for Admiralty products. About the same time photography was becoming more common, and this eventually became the normal way of recording views of the coast.

There were five types of view. These were classified in 1980 as panoramic, portrait, pilotage, aerial oblique and close-up.

In addition to views being of primary use to navigation, occasionally illustrations of ethnographical interest were recorded. Sometimes these were simply included as they appeared in the view of the coast. At other times they were drawn separately, specifically as a matter of record of something that must have been unusual and noteworthy.
The Admiralty was accruing coastal views before the Hydrographic Office was established in 1795. In 1823 Lieutenant A.B. Becher started listing the ‘original documents’ in the office. These were mainly manuscript surveys and foreign government charts, but included some views. Subsequently when a volume of views was received it was usually given a unique archival reference. He inserted the smaller views and sketches in 'View Portfolios' that were later migrated into View Albums. It appears that many views that were in volumes, such as sketch books, were kept as such until the end of the nineteenth century.

The first photographic views were received in the Department as early as 1854.

The usual practise was to include views and sketches on the original survey fair sheet. A landmark decision in 1861 resulted in an order for views to be sent in to the office on separate sheets and recorded and retained in the View Albums. This made the production process simpler as the view engraver did not have to handle the survey fair chart.
Many of the view originals were disposed of in the 1880s during a re-cataloguing of the collection.
A ‘Guide to the views in the UK Hydrographic Office Archive Collection’ was compiled by Dr Adrian Webb in 2017. This includes an introduction and general history of views, as well as details on the arrangement and composition of the various series of views held at the UKHO. There is also information about what other material in the Archive should be consulted when looking for views. This guide is held electronically and there is also a hard copy version available in the Research Room.

ADM 344, held at The National Archives, currently only contains part of the series of views accumulated by the Hydrographic Department. The remaining 25,000 documents are held in the UKHO Archive and are being reviewed, packaged and catalogued. The prefix ‘ADM 344’ is being used for this cataloguing project.
The following arrangement is the result of either artificial gatherings of records, or due to a production process. To make this arrangement clearer the terms ‘Series One’, ‘Series Two’, etc have been created. These are artificial terms, but their addition clearly shows the arrangement of the records; this arrangement is described in detail in the guide.
SDRA, 2005-present [2019]

From 2005 the majority of views received in the office were included in the Source Data Receipt system, unless they have copyright limitations. Access to this series can only be made through a member of staff.

Admiralty Library, c. 1600-1900

Amongst the many atlases and flat documents held by the Admiralty Library are numerous documents containing views. For more information contact Jenny Wraight NAVYPOL-NSNHBAL@mod.uk [correct at 2019]

This is a high-level catalogue of the data types and collections held in the UKHO Archive. As well as providing a description of all the collections held in the Archive, it lists the series within each collection, together with covering dates. It predominantly covers analogue records, with a few exceptions for records held on CD. The UKHO?s practice for selecting born digital records will remain essentially the same as that for paper and steps are currently under way to plan for their availability. We plan to maintain the availability of our products for researchers across the transition from the paper chart to succeeding electronic forms.

Collections have been arranged by creator if possible. In some cases, due to the seemingly ever changing office structure, it has not proved possible to identify the creator?s role, or office and therefore the material has been arranged by record type. It is hoped that when the individual series within each of these collections is catalogued in greater detail, a creator can be identified and the records transferred to sit within the appropriate collection. As cataloguing progresses the following collections? descriptions, listings and covering dates will be refined and updated. The terminology used in this document has been simplified wherever possible. The term ?Hydrographic Office?, or ?H.O.?, refers to the office established in 1795 that is today?s UK Hydrographic Office. This has been used instead of the term ?Department? as there were many departments within the Hydrographic Office during the period when the vast majority of classes of records were created.

Due to the large amount of transformation work and retrospective cataloguing work required within the archive, some of the records in this guide may require appraisal and selection before being formally accessioned and recognised as the part of the UKHO?s place of deposit. This is a work in progress.

Until such time as all the 19th century records have been catalogued in full, this catalogue of corrections should be used in conjunction with ACF David?s A Provisional Catalogue of Logs, Journals, Documents, Letters, Record Copies of Books and Pamphlets Published by The Hydrographic Department, 1974.

The UK Hydrographic Office is working on cataloguing uncatalogued material and making it available. Please contact us for more information.

The Archive comprises the following collections:
AAC Additional Admiralty charts (not OCB ‘old copy bundles’)
ACB Air Chart Branch records
ACO Artificial collection
ACS Accessions (2016 onwards)
ADM 344 Views
APR Admiralty Raster Chart Service (ARCS) production records
ART Artifacts
BDR Bathymetric data records
CAB Cables records
CBR Chart Branch records
CCP Catalogues of printed charts and publications
CIB Chart Issues Branch records
CMU Chart Maintenance Unit records
COD Catalogues of original documents
CON Conservation records
CPY Copies of records
CRB Composite Remark Books
CTR Contracts Branch records
DIS Displays created by the Archive and other departments
DVY Discovery Committee records
EPR Electronic Navigational Charts production records
FNR Finance records
GDY Geodesy records
GEB GEBCO (General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans) records
HD Registered Files HD Papers
HIG Hydrographic instruction graphics
HOL Hydrographic Office library
HOO Hydrographic Office orders
HOP Hydrographic Office pictures
HOR Hydrographic Office reports
HRR Human Resources records
HTP Hydrographic Office technical papers
IHO International Hydrographic Organization records
ILB Indexes to Letter Books
IMB Indexes to Minute Books
IPR Intellectual Property records
ISLB Indexes to Surveyors' Letter Books (out letters)
LB Letter Books
LLR Lights Lists records
LOD Lists of oceanic depths
LOS Law of the sea records (and maritime limits)
LP 1857 Incoming Letters prior to 1857
LR Long rolls
MAM Marketing advertising material
MAP Maps
MB Minute Books
MBE Enclosures to Minute Books
MEL Meteorological data
MLP Miscellaneous Letters and Papers
MP Miscellaneous Papers (Remark Books)
MR Miscellaneous rolls
NAO Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac Office records
NEM NEMEDRI
NMR Notices to mariners records
NPR Nautical publications records
OAW Original artwork
OCB Record copies of Admiralty charts (‘old copy bundles’)
OCC Other printed chart catalogues (non UKHO)
OCG Official corporate gifts
OCS Cancelled Foreign Government Symbols, Abbreviations and Terms on charts
OCY Oceanography records
OD Original Documents
ONM Other notices to mariners records (non-UKHO)
OPC Other printed charts and maps (non-Admiralty)
OPT Offprints
PGY Photogrammetry records
PMC Polar Medal Committee records
PRR Production records
REG Registry records, see also:
Bath Bath series files
CIB CIB series files
H H series files
HA HA series files
HC HC series files
HH HH series files
HMO HMO series files
HP HP series files
HP HP (Nottingham) series files
(Nottingham)
HS HS series files
HW HW series files
RSR Radio Signals records
S Papers S Papers
SAR Sailing Directions records
SCR Ships’ commissioning records
SCT Secretariat records
SFD Survey field data
SL Incoming Surveyors’ Letters
SLB Surveyors' Letter Books (out letters)
SLG Ships’ logs
SMB Special Minute Books
SPD Ships’ plans and diagrams
SPR Survey planning records
TBR Tidal Branch records
UHR Unofficial Hydrographic records
UNR Unidentified records which require further investigation
USR Unofficial staff records (including clubs, societies, publications etc)
WKO Wrecks Office records

REG Registered files, 1866-2009

OCB Record copies of Admiralty charts (‘old copy bundles’)

MP Miscellaneous Papers (Remark Books)

COD 7 Registers of view albums

IRB Individual Remark Books

CRB Chart Branch records

AAC Additional Admiralty charts (not OCB ‘old copy bundles’)

OD Original Documents

OPC Other printed maps and charts (non-Admiralty)

SAR Sailing Directions records

Hydrographic surveys

NPR Nautical publications records

Access is by appointment only. Please see our contact details for more information.