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This aerial view shows the historic core of Exton Hall and its surrounding parkland near Oakham, Rutland, bringing together three closely linked buildings that reflect the long history of the Exton estate.
Exton Hall (country house)
The present Exton Hall is a mid-19th-century country house built in 1850–1851 as the principal seat of the Noel family, the Earls of Gainsborough. It replaced the earlier mansion nearby and was designed to reflect Victorian aristocratic taste, with formal gardens laid out to complement the house and its parkland setting.
Church of St Peter and St Paul, Exton
The parish church dates largely from the 13th and 14th centuries, with later alterations in the 15th century and Victorian restorations. It served both the village and the Noel family and contains memorials to members of the Gainsborough lineage. The tall west tower makes it a strong visual landmark within the park.
Exton Old Hall (ruins)
The remains to the east of the church are those of Exton Old Hall, the earlier mansion of the Noel family. This substantial house was badly damaged by fire in 1810 and never fully rebuilt. Further deterioration followed a later fire in 1915, leaving the surviving walls and fragments seen today. The site is now a Scheduled Monument, preserved as a reminder of the estate’s earlier centre.
Together, the house, church and ruins illustrate the evolution of the Exton estate from medieval parish and Tudor mansion to a Victorian country seat.
Southwold Pier stretches out from North Parade into the North Sea, seen here from above with the beach huts and promenade along the Denes and the town just inland.
A pier first opened here in 1900, created as a landing stage for visiting steamers and as a classic seaside draw for Victorian and Edwardian Southwold. The earliest pier was longer than today and it ended in a wider head. Over time, storms and changing coastal conditions reshaped what survived and what was rebuilt.
A major storm in 1934 destroyed the pier’s seaward landing stage. In the mid to late 1930s the familiar shore-end pavilion buildings were rebuilt and expanded to create the pier’s main enclosed spaces.
During the Second World War, a section of the pier was removed as a defensive measure and the structure was also damaged by a mine. Repairs and rebuilding continued after the war with a significant restoration completed in 1948.
Later storm damage shortened the pier dramatically, but a major modern reconstruction began in 1999 using new piles and modern engineering methods. The rebuilt pier reopened fully in 2001 and its present length is about 623 ft (190 m).
Who owns and runs it today: Southwold Pier is privately owned. It was purchased in 2024 by Amy and Charles Barwick, who operate it with the pier’s management and staff.
Visitors: the pier is often described as attracting hundreds of thousands of visits each year, commonly cited as around three-quarters of a million to close to a million depending on the year.
What’s on the pier: as well as the views and the walk to the end, the pier is known for Tim Hunkin’s Under the Pier Show with its interactive coin-operated machines. Other attractions include the Water Clock, the Wacky Walk of Mirrors, traditional amusements and a mix of food and drink options along the deck. Fishing is also a familiar sight from the seaward end when conditions allow.
Aerial view of the MSC Virtuosa which had its maiden cruise in May 2021. Here it is, docked in Portland Harbour - Castletown on the Isle of Portland near Weymouth in Dorset UK - aerial image
Aerial view of Lowestoft. The Mutford Bridges and Lock separate Lake Lothing in the foreground and Oulton Broad in the distance - Suffolk UK aerial image
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The Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) is a huge development in Dubai, which consists of 79 towers being constructed along the edges of four artificial lakes.
This is a conventional panorama, made of 3 shots in portrait with my Tokina @11mm. Each portrait shot is a digital blending of 4 exposures. Hence a total of 12 exposures used for this panorama.
Dubai Set | Digital Blending Set | Night Photography Set | Panorama Set | Architecture Set
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Aerial view of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire – home of the Dukes of Rutland for over 1,000 years. The current castle, completed in the 1830s, stands on the site of three earlier fortresses.
Aerial image Watchet,
A characterful harbour town on the Somerset coast, looking out across the Bristol Channel. Watchet’s maritime history stretches back to Saxon times, when it was an important trading and fishing port. The harbour you see today was rebuilt and modernised in the early 2000s, transforming it into a marina for leisure craft while retaining much of its historic charm. The red-topped lighthouse at the end of the west pier, first lit in 1862, remains one of the town’s best-known landmarks.
The jumble of narrow streets around the quay reflects Watchet’s medieval street plan, while the preserved railway line on the right links the town to the West Somerset Railway heritage route. It’s a place where centuries of maritime life meet a lively modern community — a perfect blend of history, sea air, and coastal character.
Southrepps is a north Norfolk village lying a few miles inland from Cromer, distinctive for being divided into Upper Southrepps and Lower Southrepps, separated by open farmland. This unusual layout reflects its long agricultural history rather than later planned development.
The village is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, showing it was already an established settlement in the Norman period. Its name is thought to derive from old land-strip farming patterns that once shaped the surrounding fields.
Dominating the landscape is St James’ Church, whose tall medieval tower is one of the most prominent in this part of Norfolk and a clear landmark from the air. The church reflects the prosperity of the area during the medieval wool and agricultural economy.
Nearby Southrepps Common is a protected wetland landscape, valued for its biodiversity and traditional grazing history. Today the village remains rural and relatively unchanged in scale, with a population of just over 800, retaining a strong sense of continuity with its past.
Somerleyton Hall is one of the great Victorian “statement” houses of East Anglia, sitting close to the Suffolk–Norfolk border. Although an earlier house stood here for centuries, the hall seen today is largely the result of a major rebuild and transformation in the mid-1800s after the estate was bought by Sir Samuel Morton Peto (1809–1889).
Peto was a giant of the railway age: a civil engineering contractor involved in major railway building and other large infrastructure projects. He also stepped into national politics and served as an MP. Somerleyton became his opportunity to create a showpiece home that looked impressive from a distance and dazzled up close, with a fashionable mix of styles rather than a strict copy of one historical period.
The hall’s exterior is immediately recognisable for its warm red brick and pale stone detailing, with lively chimneys and a dramatic tower that gives the building its skyline. That tall tower is often assumed to be purely decorative, but estates of this era commonly combined “useful engineering” with architecture. At Somerleyton the tower is widely understood to have had a practical role as part of the estate’s water system, while also acting as an eye-catching feature to announce the house across the flat landscape.
There is also a separate clock tower at Somerleyton, which is part of what makes the hall feel so distinctive and slightly theatrical. The clock is associated with the renowned Victorian clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy, adding a nice detail for anyone who likes the craftsmanship behind these estates as much as the architecture itself.
Peto’s work here wasn’t limited to the building. The gardens and pleasure grounds were laid out to match the confidence of the new hall. The famous yew maze dates from the Victorian period, and the formal layout is very much from the age when wealthy owners wanted visitors to experience the estate as a sequence of grand views and surprises.
A curious modern footnote: the Somerleyton area is linked with the early development story of the hovercraft, because Sir Christopher Cockerell carried out early experiments and demonstrations locally before the idea became a practical reality. He was based at Ripplecraft in Somerleyton (his boatyard) where the hovercraft idea took shape.
Hunstanton Seafront & Funfair – Summer Aerial image
This view looks south along the busy seafront at Hunstanton, on the north-west coast of Norfolk. The tide is fairly low, revealing long stretches of sand and the familiar line of wooden groynes jutting into The Wash. You can see how effectively they control longshore drift – trapping strips of sand and seaweed between each groyne, a classic feature of this coastline since the late 19th century.
At the centre of the image is the Rainbow Park Funfair, first established in 1965, still run today by the Hanton family. The bright red-and-white helter-skelter, rollercoasters and arcades make it one of the most recognisable landmarks on the promenade. Next to it is the Oasis Leisure Centre with its swimming pool and sports facilities, and beyond that the Princess Theatre, originally opened in 1932 as a cinema.
The row of caravan holiday homes sits on South Beach Road, one of the most popular areas for summer rentals. On the right is one of the large public car parks which fills up rapidly on hot days like this one. The Wash Monsters boat tours depart from this stretch of beach, taking visitors out across the sandbanks at low tide.
Hunstanton is the only west-facing resort in the east of England, which means visitors get sunsets over the sea – rare for this side of the country. The resort began to grow in the 1860s, laid out by Henry Le Strange, who envisioned a Victorian seaside town to rival the south coast resorts. His plan shaped much of the grid layout still visible today.
You can also trace the change in beach usage over the decades – what was once an exclusively Victorian promenade is now a mix of amusements, arcades, leisure centres, caravan parks, cafés and coastal defences. On this particular day, the beach looks absolutely packed – a classic Norfolk summer scene.
Image captured at high resolution from the air – showing the fun of the seaside, but also the ongoing story of how we protect and use this ever-changing coast.
Castle Rising Castle, Norfolk — Aerial View (2024)
Castle Rising is one of the most remarkable and best-preserved examples of a Norman great keep in England. Built around 1140 by William d’Aubigny, Earl of Arundel, it was intended both as a defensive fortress and as a statement of power and prestige. The massive stone keep stands within an elaborate series of earthwork ramparts and deep defensive ditches, covering an area of about 12 acres (5 hectares)—among the most impressive in the country.
The castle’s history is intertwined with royalty. In the 14th century, it became the residence of Queen Isabella of France, widow of Edward II and mother of Edward III, who lived here for more than 25 years after her husband’s deposition and death. The keep’s grand hall, chapel, and private apartments reflected her high status, while the surrounding bailey and gatehouse were protected by formidable earthworks.
Castle Rising later passed through noble families including the Mowbrays, Howards, and eventually the Earls of Suffolk, before coming under the care of the Howard family, who still own it today. It is now managed by English Heritage and open to visitors.
Archaeological excavations have revealed evidence of an earlier Saxon settlement beneath the site and extensive medieval occupation around the castle, making it a place of both military and domestic significance.
Today, the aerial perspective reveals the geometric perfection of the Norman design — the square keep dominating concentric banks and ditches, surrounded by the quiet village of Castle Rising. The scale of its earthworks is best appreciated from above, where the symmetry and strategic positioning become strikingly clear.
Location: Castle Rising, near King’s Lynn, Norfolk
Built: c.1140
Builder: William d’Aubigny, Earl of Arundel
Architecture: Norman Romanesque
Height of keep: approx. 12 metres (40 feet)
Status: Scheduled Ancient Monument, Grade I listed
Managed by: English Heritage
Aerial image: The Royal Liver Building, one of the most recognisable landmarks in Liverpool and part of the city’s iconic UNESCO World Heritage waterfront. The building, completed in 1911, was designed by architect Walter Aubrey Thomas and constructed as the headquarters of the Royal Liver Assurance Company.
Standing 98 metres (322 ft) tall, it was one of the first buildings in the world to be constructed using reinforced concrete, and for a time it was the tallest building in Europe. Its twin clock towers dominate the skyline, each topped by a mythical Liver Bird, the symbol of the city. According to local legend, one bird looks out to sea to protect the sailors, while the other watches over the city.
The Royal Liver Building forms part of Liverpool’s “Three Graces” at the Pier Head, alongside the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building, reflecting the city’s maritime heritage and Edwardian grandeur. Today, it remains a powerful symbol of Liverpool and is used as office space and an events venue, with tours offering access to the clock towers and panoramic views across the River Mersey.
Aerial view of the Bure River running from Wroxham towards Wroxham Broad - part of the Norfolk Broads - UK aerial imagery
Aerial view of Hunstanton on a beautiful mid summer day. The car parks, beaches, parks, sea ... everything jam packed.
Norfolk coast aerial image
Scroby Sands aerial view - the long-shifting sandbank off the Norfolk coast, with the offshore wind farm now established on it. Over centuries these sands have caused many wrecks and claimed ships — SS Hopelyn (1922), SS Eastward (1918), Sea Queen (1870) and more — making it a notorious hazard in coastal navigation.
The Scroby Sands Wind Farm, commissioned in March 2004, was built by Powergen Renewables Offshore (then a division of E.ON UK). Today it is wholly owned and operated by RWE Renewables UK Limited.
Some technical & operational facts:
The farm has a nameplate capacity of 60 MW, sufficient to power tens of thousands of homes.
It consists of 30 wind turbines, each rated at 2 MW.
The turbines (rotors, nacelles etc.) were designed and manufactured by Vestas, a Danish company.
The foundations are hollow steel piles (about 4 m in diameter), driven up to 30 m into the seabed, to ensure stability on the shifting sands.
Over time, the sandbank has moved, causing parts of the seabed to rise and isolate some turbines from direct vessel access. RWE and partners have addressed this by developing a world-first amphibious crew transfer vessel (CRC Walrus) that can drive on sand and reach stranded turbines.
In August 2023 one turbine at Scroby Sands caught fire. Personnel were safely evacuated, and the incident is subject to investigation.
From above the cloud deck, the Deben feels like a boundary between two moods. Up here the light is clean and cold, the air looks almost weightless, and the winter sun turns the top of the cloud into a bright, billowing shoreline. Below, Woodbridge and the fields along the valley sit in shadow, softened and half-hidden, as if the town has been tucked under a blanket of quiet.
What catches the eye is the river itself. The River Deben winds through the darkness like a strip of polished metal, flaring white where it reflects the sun. In places you can sense the shape of the estuary—broadening and narrowing, with pale mudflats and sinuous channels that hint at the tide’s constant reworking of the landscape. Even when the land feels subdued, the water insists on being seen.
Woodbridge has always belonged to this river. It is a place shaped by tide and trade, by boats and shipwrights, by the steady practical rhythm of moving goods and people along a sheltered Suffolk waterway. Nearby, on higher ground above the Deben, Sutton Hoo holds its older story—an Anglo-Saxon burial from around the seventh century, uncovered in the 1930s, a reminder that this “quiet” landscape has carried power and meaning for a very long time. On the waterfront, the tide mill speaks to a different kind of ingenuity, drawing work and light from the sea’s pulse.
This is what winter can do: divide the world into layers. Above, a luminous calm. Below, the familiar grey that waits for you to return. Yet the river threads them together, a bright, living line that makes even the dark land look inhabited, held and quietly beautiful.
Aerial view of Kelling Hall in north Norfolk - UK aerial image www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1052705/Entire-Norfolk-v...
Seen from above, the foundations of “Old Sarum”’s Norman cathedral emerge with extraordinary precision — a pale outline etched into the Wiltshire chalk. These are the remains of the first Salisbury Cathedral, begun around 1075 under Bishop Osmund, nephew of William the Conqueror’s half-brother, and consecrated in 1092. Osmund’s cathedral served as the seat of the Diocese of Salisbury for more than a century, its canons and clergy living and working within the fortifications of this great hilltop citadel.
The site itself is far older. The vast outer ramparts, enclosing some 29 acres, were first raised during the Iron Age (around 400 BC) and later occupied by Romans, Saxons, and finally Normans, who transformed it into one of the most formidable strongholds in medieval England. William the Conqueror ordered the construction of a royal castle here soon after 1069, entrusting it to Sheriff William of Eu, and by the 11th century it had become both a fortress and an administrative centre. The Domesday Book of 1086 was partly compiled at Old Sarum, and William I and William II (Rufus) both held royal councils on the site.
The original cathedral, built of Chilmark stone with a wooden roof, measured about 185 ft (56 m) in length and featured a single tower. Despite its significance, relations between the castle’s soldiers and the clergy deteriorated badly — the clergy complained of restricted access to water and limited space for processions. These tensions, combined with exposure to wind and lack of expansion room, led Bishop Richard Poore to obtain royal permission from King Henry III to build a new cathedral on lower ground beside the River Avon. Construction of the new Salisbury Cathedral began in 1220, marking the birth of “New Sarum” and the gradual abandonment of the hilltop site.
Today, only the footprints of the cathedral remain — the nave, transepts, and choir forming a perfect cruciform pattern visible even from the air. The outlines of associated buildings, including the bishop’s palace and cloister, can also be discerned. Beneath the golden evening light, these ancient foundations offer a haunting glimpse into England’s Norman past — a fusion of royal power, ecclesiastical ambition, and enduring landscape memory.
Old Sarum cathedral aerial view
erial view of Sea Palling on the North Norfolk coast with the offshore rock “reefs” standing out in winter light. These segmented breakwaters sit a little way off the beach and are meant to take the sting out of incoming waves. In the lee of each reef you can see the calmer water and the way sand builds into curved “salients” that help keep a wider beach in front of the seawall.
Sea Palling has long been vulnerable because the land behind the dunes is so low-lying. After the devastating North Sea surge of 1953, the main concrete sea wall along the Eccles to Winterton frontage was built in stages, reaching its modern extent by the late 1980s. By the early to mid 1990s beach levels here had fallen dangerously, storms were stripping sand away and the sea wall was starting to suffer at its foundations. The response was a major defence scheme through the 1990s: nine offshore reefs plus additional groynes and repeated beach recharge to rebuild the protective beach. The first phase was completed in 1995 and the later reefs were added by 1997. Reported figures for the works include a Phase 1 cost of about £5.9m and around 220,000 tonnes of rock for the later reefs at a quoted cost of about £10.5m. The scheme was developed by Halcrow for the public flood and coastal authorities.
Has it worked? Locally, yes in the sense that it helped restore and hold a higher beach in front of the wall and dunes, which is exactly what keeps this frontage stable during storms. Monitoring has also shown a large build-up of sand around the reefs, even though the gaps between reefs can still see erosion and scour. It is not a “build it once and forget it” solution: maintaining the beach has meant periodic nourishment and the last major recharge in this area was in 2009. Looking ahead, sea level rise and the possibility of more frequent severe surges mean the reefs and the beach management behind them will need ongoing review and further recharge is likely to be required to keep the standard of protection.
The Ziggurats, University of East Anglia – Norwich, Norfolk
These striking student halls, containing around 600 student rooms, were built between 1964 and 1968, designed by Sir Denys Lasdun, one of Britain’s leading modernist architects. Their bold stepped profile and modular layout were part of the brutalist movement — unapologetically geometric, concrete and ambitious. The terraces face south towards the UEA lake and were intended to give every room sunlight and a view.
Construction cost in the late 1960s was around £1.2 million, a major investment for the expanding university sector of that decade. Despite initial resistance to their appearance, they became admired as a landmark of post-war British architecture and were later granted Grade II* listing for their innovation in mass student housing.
In 2023, all accommodation inside the Ziggurats was closed until further notice, following government guidance on structural concerns surrounding RAAC – Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete. RAAC is a lightweight, bubbly concrete used widely in the 1960s–80s. It was quick and cheap to install, but its lifespan is often only 30–40 years, and it can fail without warning — especially when exposed to moisture. The problem has affected schools, hospitals, offices and universities across the UK, including UEA.
As the building is listed, any repairs or replacement materials must meet heritage requirements, making solutions complex and expensive. A design competition has now been launched to explore refurbishment or reuse options for the next 50 years — but no reopening date has been confirmed. For now, the Ziggurats remain unoccupied: a celebrated concrete vision awaiting its second life.
Aerial view of the remains of St Michael & All Angels Church in Bowthorpe - Norwich. Abandoned in the 1790s.
Bowthorpe church aerial image
Aerial view of the National Trust Blakeney National Nature Reserve in north Norfolk - UK aerial imagery
Sheringham and Beeston Bump – Aerial View
This aerial photograph looks east along the North Norfolk coast, showing the seaside town of Sheringham with the prominent Beeston Bump rising above the cliffs in the foreground. Beeston Bump is a glacial hill, part of the Cromer Ridge — a terminal moraine formed during the last Ice Age, around 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, when advancing glaciers from the north deposited vast quantities of sand, gravel, and clay at their southern limit. The hill reaches about 63 metres (207 feet) above sea level and offers panoramic views across the town and coast.
Sheringham itself developed from two medieval fishing villages, Upper and Lower Sheringham, which merged in the late 19th century. The arrival of the railway in 1887 transformed the settlement into a popular Victorian and Edwardian holiday resort. The town retains much of its historic charm, with red-brick houses, narrow streets, and the preserved North Norfolk Railway (“Poppy Line”) running heritage steam trains to Holt.
Below the cliffs, a series of groynes, sea walls, and rock revetments protect the shoreline from erosion and longshore drift — an ongoing challenge along this soft, glacially formed coast. The beach is composed of fine sand mixed with flint shingle, much of it washed down from the eroding cliffs.
Visible beyond Sheringham are the golf course on the cliffs and the long sweep of coast leading towards Weybourne and Cley-next-the-Sea, while inland the patchwork of Norfolk farmland and woodland reflects centuries of agricultural use.
Today Sheringham has a population of around 7,000 and remains one of Norfolk’s best-loved resorts, combining natural beauty, geological significance, and traditional seaside character.
Sheringham aerial image
Nottingham Council House stands at the head of Old Market Square, the city’s historic civic centre, its Portland stone façade here softened by a winter covering of snow. The building was designed by the city architect Thomas Cecil Howitt and constructed between 1927 and 1929, replacing the earlier Exchange Buildings that had occupied the site since the 18th century.
Built in a restrained classical style, the Council House was intended to project confidence and civic pride at a time when Nottingham was expanding rapidly as an industrial city. Its most distinctive feature is the tall central dome, rising to around 200 feet, which has become one of Nottingham’s most recognisable landmarks. Beneath the dome lies the Council Chamber, still used for meetings of Nottingham City Council.
The building officially opened in 1929 and has remained at the heart of the city’s governance ever since. During the Second World War it narrowly escaped serious damage despite bombing in the city centre. Over the decades it has witnessed political change, public demonstrations, celebrations and remembrance events, all played out across the wide space of Old Market Square in front.
Seen in winter, the formal symmetry and clean lines of Howitt’s design take on a quieter character. Snow settles on ledges and steps, muting the bustle of the square and lending the building a timeless, almost sculptural calm, a reminder of Nottingham’s civic history standing firm at the centre of the modern city.
Aerial view over north Norfolk - looking over the saltmarshes towards Stiffkey - Norfolk UK aerial image
Aerial view of Barnwell Castle. Grade 1 listed building & scheduled monument. The motte and bailey castle was built in 1132. Today, the walls are up to 30 ft high and over 12 ft thick. - ‘built in 1266 during the reign of King Henry III by Berenger Le Moyne, who was found to have built it without a licence’ www.oundlechronicle.co.uk/?p=2299 … Northamptonshire UK aerial image