Scotland from the Sky | Historic Environment Scotland

Exhibition

Capturing Scotland

Aerial photographs are both highly informative and visually appealing, recording and revealing places and patterns of life from new perspectives.

General aerial view of Castlewigg Country House.

Exhibition

Revealed from the air

Our photographers capture images which inform our work in the present and serve as a record for the future.

General aerial view of Edinburgh City Centre.

Exhibition

Our changing cities

On the ground, we observe and record our built heritage but from the air, we understand and record the bigger picture.

Blog

A Bird's Eye View

Aerial Photographer Robert Adam reveals stunning images from his 25 years of capturing bird’s eye views over Scotland.

A cover of a book reading "Scotland from the Sky" showing snow capped mountains.

Shop

Scotland from the Sky Paperback

This lavishly illustrated book by author James Crawford draws on the vast collection of aerial photography held in our archives.

A cover of a book reading "Above Scotland" showing the Forth Road Bridge.

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Above Scotland Paperback

From the 1920s to the present day, view photographs that have never been seen before by the public in Above Scotland.

A cover of a book reading "Scotland's Landscapes" showing islands from above.

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Scotland's Landscapes Paperback

Discover the enduring story of Scotland's landscapes over centuries of interaction between people and the environment.

Resource

Britain From Above

Help us to identify locations in historic aerial images of Britain taken from 1919 to 1953.

An aerial view of large ships surrounded by mountains.

Resource

National Collection of Aerial Photography

Explore one of the largest collections of historical aerial photographs in the world, featuring events and places around the world, from the Dambusters and D-Day to the Cold War.