Archives & Research Digital Collections

Decolonise Architecture - Bath are a collective of University of Bath architecture students and alumni fighting for a new, holistic, transparent, and free format of education.

They aim to collaborate with Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering staff to create an educational experience that is inclusive for all. They believe that this will give students the ability to design for the betterment of the global community.

Architectural photographs relating to the city of Bath, 1965-1993.

These photographs are part of the Bristol Region Building Record (BRBR) held by University of Bath Archives and Research Collections.

This small selection of unusual photographs offers views of some of the buildings of Bath that are often overlooked or that no longer survive. It includes images of architecture ranging from the 18th to the 20th centuries; from newly finished to demolition in progress; from Georgian streetscapes to a 1970s shopping centre. All the buildings recorded here played a part in the City's architectural development and so earned their place in the story of Bath as we know it today.

Sources and related material:

At Archives & Research Collections, University of Bath:

• The 28 digitised images presented here have been selected from photographs relating to Bath held in the Bristol Region Building Record (BRBR).

Photographic prints relating to the construction and launch of the SS Great Eastern, 1855-1857.

These photographs are part of the Hollingworth Collection held by University of Bath Archives and Research Collections.

Measuring 692 feet and over 18,000 tons, at the time of its launch, the SS Great Eastern was the largest ship ever built. The third steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859), it was intended to service a non-stop route between Britain and Australia with capacity for 4,000 passengers. The shipbuilder was John Scott Russell (1808-1882). Construction began in February 1854 and appears to have taken place at his shipyard in Millwall on the Isle of Dogs, East London, or at the adjoining Napier Yard, which he leased from 1854. Work was delayed by a fire in May 1855 and interrupted again between February and May 1856 owing to financial difficulties. On 3 November 1857 a first, unsuccessful attempt was made to launch the ship.  After further problems the launch was finally accomplished on 31 January 1858.   

Brunel recognised the value of photography as a means of recording and illustrating work on the ship, and in late 1854 he commissioned Joseph Cundall and Robert Howlett to take a set of photographs showing construction progress for the information of the directors of the Eastern Steam Navigation Company. In May 1855 Brunel felt the need to issue very specific instructions governing all aspects - timing, frequency, camera position - of the photography, writing '...what I want is a clear representation of detail.' He additionally requested that a date should be made visible on each image for easy reference (though this did not always happen).

Together the photographs evidence the unprecedented scale of the project and some of the huge technical and logistical challenges associated with it. They also document details of Brunel's revolutionary engineering designs, including the double-layered hull and the compartmentalising bulkheads.

The photographs have been organised into chronological order as far as this has been possible.

Sources and related material:

At Archives & Research Collections, University of Bath:

• Typescript copies of correspondence, principally between John Scott Russell and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, relating to the conception, design and construction of the Great Eastern steamship, 1852-1880.  (Hollingworth/E/2-E/20)
  
  
• Three volume edition of The Modern System of Naval Architecture, J. Scott Russell, London, Day and Son, 1865. (Hollingworth/E/26-E/28)
  
  
• 'Making Photographic History', E. Howgill, Project Archivist (Brunel), Special Collections, University of Bristol, 2020.

At Special Collections, University of Bristol:

• Isambard Kingdom Brunel's letterbooks containing correspondence relating to the commissioning of the photographs and other aspects of the design and construction of the SS Great Eastern. (DM1306/11/1)
  
  
• 'Hidden Treasures in the University of Bristol Brunel Collection', E. Howgill, Project Archivist (Brunel), Special Collections, University of Bristol, 2020.

Original prints and artworks relating to the city of Bath, 1785-1844.

These prints and artworks are part of the Bristol Region Building Record (BRBR) held by University of Bath Archives and Research Collections.

This small selection of prints offers various views of Bath during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It includes depictions of some of the city's most famous and iconic buildings and streetscapes at a time when Bath was the height of fashion. Individually each image records detailed visual information about well-known architectural features, some extant and some that no longer survive. Together they provide an artistic overview of how the city appeared and was perceived.

Sources and related material:

At Archives & Research Collections, University of Bath:

• The 25 digitised images presented here have been selected from original prints and artworks relating to Bath held in the Bristol Region Building Record (BRBR).