Digitisation of Countryside Images

The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) holds a collection of countryside-related resources. This archive represents their stock of digitised images dating between 1920 and 1965 and covering key times of change and upheaval in English countryside life, such as World War II.

Extinct breeds and historical practices of animal husbandry, past agricultural shows, prisoners of war at work and the era of change between horse-drawn and engine-powered machinery are all covered in the archive. The journal archives of Farmers Weekly and Farmer & Stockbreeder are the two main resources of the collection.

This is a description of an Online Resource. Online Resources are websites that describe, interpret and provide access to archives. They often provide access to digital content but they may also describe physical materials. They usually cover a theme or topic, such as an individual, a movement, or an important historical event.

Access this resource online: http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/research/merl-digicountryimagesproject.aspx

A Jisc funded digitisation initiative. Publisher: University of Reading

Students, researchers and teachers of agricultural studies and practices, as well as those working practically in farming and rural affairs will be particularly interested in this collection. Those with a general interest in the countryside, the history of the mid-20th century, social history or photography will all find interesting points of study within the archive.