The winners of the third annual Historic Photographer of the Year award, judged by, among others, Historic England director of regions Claudia Kenyatta and historian/broadcaster Dan Snow, were announced last week — and the entrants were ‘astonishing’.
The overall winner was this picture of a Mulberry Harbour in Arromanches by Stéphane Hurel:
The intrepid ambition of both amateur and professional photographers who took part is evident and, although photographs were sent in from all over the world, plenty of UK landmarks provided inspiration.
Historic England sponsored one of the awards for an image of Britain, which went to a photo of Sunderland’s Roker Pier by JP Appleton.
Many other British landmarks were captured by those entering the competition, however. These included Lindisfarne Priory; Dover’s Napoleonic grand shaft; Scotney Castle in Kent (pictured top); Skipton Castle in North Yorkshire; the ruins of St Mary’s Church in East Somerton, Norfolk; an abandoned croft on the tiny Scottish island of Stroma; red kites soaring over Brograve Mill in the Norfolk Broads; Red Sands Fort in the Thames Estuary; Milner’s Tower on the Isle of Man; sunset at Whitby Abbey; the Highlands’ Castle Stalker; Corfe Castle in Dorset emerging from mist; heavenly light at Wells Cathedral, Somerset; a snowy Swinside Stone Circle in Cumbria; and Roche Rock, Cornwall.
You can see some of our favourites down below.
These awards remind ‘people that exploring history is an adventure, where you stumble across decaying remnants of the past and remember the incredible stories that took place,’ says Mr Snow. The pictures below — a selection of the commended images — show exactly what he means.
Visit www.historicphotographeroftheyear.com to see more about the competition and find out about entering in 2020.
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