Staffordshire Views
The Staffordshire Views Collection contains some 3,000 illustrations of the county comprising watercolours, original sketches, prints and engravings. Many of the views were commissioned by William Salt during the 1830s and 1840s.
The collection is arranged alphabetically by place and includes views of landscapes, street scenes, churches, country houses, public buildings and antiquities.
Artists featured in the collection include:
- John Buckler
- J C Buckler
- George Buckler
- Thomas Peploe Wood
- Lewis John Wood
- Henry Curzon Allport
- John Allport
- C B Ash
- William Fernyhough
- S and N Buck
- T Donaldson
- Stebbing Shaw
- Robert Noyes
A number of other artists are also represented in the collection to a lesser extent.
This collection has recently been digitised and re-catalogued with the help of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
How to search the collection
You can search the collection in 2 ways.
Use Gateway to the Past
If you go to the Gateway to the Past Online Catalogue you can search by place, by building type or by artist or you may enter free text search terms, such as church and Stafford, which will bring up a list of views for churches in Stafford.
From the search screen select illustrations from the DocType list, select William Salt Library from the repository field and enter the place or building you want to search for in the title or any text fields. Alternatively, to produce a hit list for the whole collection enter sv in the DocRefNo field and select William Salt Library in the Located At field.
See Staffordshire Past-Track
It is also possible to view the collection on the Staffordshire Past-Track web site. This web site allows you to search by theme, by clicking on a map or through a text search.
How to order copies of Staffordshire Views
We can supply high quality prints on different paper sizes and finishes. Please see the Staffordshire Views Prints Price List for a list of options and prices.
If you would like to order prints please contact the Library via email to obtain a quote for the material that you would like copying and for the relevant order form.
Please do not return the form by email as we require your signature to the copyright declaration before we can supply any prints.
Please also ensure that the order form is completed as fully as possible as any omissions may lead to a delay in processing your order. Customers will be notified of the total cost of their order on completion of the work. Please do not send payment until we ask you to do so.
Producing Staffordshire Views prints is not the primary function of the Library so we regret that it is not possible to provide prints on the spot. Orders will usually be processed within three weeks of the receipt of the order so it is not possible to meet tight deadlines.
The methods of payment page provides information on ways to pay for these services.
Reproduction
These prints are offered for personal or educational use only. Permission to reproduce any image within the Staffordshire Views Collection must be obtained in writing from the Trustees of the William Salt Library prior to any publication, exhibition or display taking place.
A variable reproduction fee may also be payable. See the list of these fees and charges.
A formal request for permission to use the images would need to include which views are intended to be used as well as providing detail of the publication that they are being published in. The images can only be used for the individual purpose that you specify in your written request. Any further use you may wish to put the images to will involve a new request and an additional reproduction fee.
Finally, permission would only be granted once we have received all the relevant paperwork and the appropriate fee.