Margaret Tomlinson and the National Buildings Record
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
8-3-2025 7:20 PM
Description
Gary Winter, Archive Engagement and Content Officer, Historic England Archive, United Kingdom
Margaret Tomlinson and the National Buildings Record
The National Buildings Record (NBR) was formed during the Second World War to record architecture under threat of destruction from aerial bombing. Often working in testing conditions, the NBR’s photographers made records of the buildings that stood before the onslaught, and those that fell victim to high explosives and incendiaries.
During the war, four photographers operated continuously for the NBR. One of these was Margaret Tomlinson, née Tansley (1905-1997). Tomlinson was educated at Newnham College in Cambridge and trained as an architect. She married her tutor in 1926 and had two children. When her marriage ended, she moved with her children from Cambridgeshire to set up home in Devon.
Tomlinson was a skilled photographer. Although she described her photographic work as a “side-line”, she had been photographing buildings since around 1930, supplying photographs to architects and journals. Desperate for work, she contacted the NBR and became its first female photographer.
Tomlinson began photographing for the NBR in January 1942. She initially found the work challenging. Ill health and difficult conditions affected her confidence. In one letter, she describes having to warm her camera under the bonnet of her car as the shutter kept sticking in the cold. Despite these setbacks, Margaret was able to supply thousands of images to the NBR during the war, including views recording the devastating raids on the cities of Exeter and Plymouth.
After the war, Tomlinson worked as an Investigator with the Ministry of Town and Country Planning, and for the revived Victoria History of the Counties of England. The Historic England Archive’s Margaret Tomlinson Collection contains nearly 3,500 negatives.
Gary Winter is the Archive Engagement and Content Officer for Historic England - the public body that champions England's historic environment. He has worked in various roles at Historic England and its predecessors - the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and English Heritage - for over 25 years. He has used the Archive’s extensive collections to produce public exhibitions, create online content, share images via social media and to undertake engagement activities with young people and older people. He has co-authored several books, including 'England's Seaside Resorts' (Brodie, Allan & Winter, Gary, Swindon: English Heritage, 2007) and 'Picturing England: The photographic collections of Historic England' (Evans, Mike, Winter, Gary & Woodward, Anne) Swindon: Historic England, 2015).
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Winter, Gary, "Margaret Tomlinson and the National Buildings Record" (2025). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day 2025. 55.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2025/schedule/55
Margaret Tomlinson and the National Buildings Record
Gary Winter, Archive Engagement and Content Officer, Historic England Archive, United Kingdom
Margaret Tomlinson and the National Buildings Record
The National Buildings Record (NBR) was formed during the Second World War to record architecture under threat of destruction from aerial bombing. Often working in testing conditions, the NBR’s photographers made records of the buildings that stood before the onslaught, and those that fell victim to high explosives and incendiaries.
During the war, four photographers operated continuously for the NBR. One of these was Margaret Tomlinson, née Tansley (1905-1997). Tomlinson was educated at Newnham College in Cambridge and trained as an architect. She married her tutor in 1926 and had two children. When her marriage ended, she moved with her children from Cambridgeshire to set up home in Devon.
Tomlinson was a skilled photographer. Although she described her photographic work as a “side-line”, she had been photographing buildings since around 1930, supplying photographs to architects and journals. Desperate for work, she contacted the NBR and became its first female photographer.
Tomlinson began photographing for the NBR in January 1942. She initially found the work challenging. Ill health and difficult conditions affected her confidence. In one letter, she describes having to warm her camera under the bonnet of her car as the shutter kept sticking in the cold. Despite these setbacks, Margaret was able to supply thousands of images to the NBR during the war, including views recording the devastating raids on the cities of Exeter and Plymouth.
After the war, Tomlinson worked as an Investigator with the Ministry of Town and Country Planning, and for the revived Victoria History of the Counties of England. The Historic England Archive’s Margaret Tomlinson Collection contains nearly 3,500 negatives.
Gary Winter is the Archive Engagement and Content Officer for Historic England - the public body that champions England's historic environment. He has worked in various roles at Historic England and its predecessors - the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England and English Heritage - for over 25 years. He has used the Archive’s extensive collections to produce public exhibitions, create online content, share images via social media and to undertake engagement activities with young people and older people. He has co-authored several books, including 'England's Seaside Resorts' (Brodie, Allan & Winter, Gary, Swindon: English Heritage, 2007) and 'Picturing England: The photographic collections of Historic England' (Evans, Mike, Winter, Gary & Woodward, Anne) Swindon: Historic England, 2015).
Comments
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