Historic RAF Aerial Photograph of Scruton from 1951

Whilst browsing the Internet recently, Joan Walker came across the above picture, taken by the RAF on 29 July 1951 (sortie 540/567, flown over Northallerton). It’s one of over 400,000 historic aerial photographs that have been digitised and uploaded to Historic England’s website. The photo shows Scruton prior to the developments at Meadow Drive, Meadow Court and The Parklands. Also visible is the now demolished Scruton Hall with its walled gardens surrounded by many trees.

Go to www.historicengland.org.uk and look for ‘Historic England From the Air’ to explore this and many more aerial photographs taken from a collection of over six million pictures of England preserved in the Historic England archive! You can also learn more about the history of Aerofilms Ltd., which began its life in the aftermath of WWI (the first ever aerial photo by Aerofilms was taken on 26 July 1919).