The historic sights of Patcham might not be high on the list of things to see for the thousands who never get closer to the village than the traffic jams on the London Road.

But pensioner Robert Priest - who used to run The Audio Shop which has three branches in Brighton - hopes all this will change when pictures of the village's 26 listed buildings and monuments are posted on the internet.

The 72-year-old, who lives in Bengairn Avenue, finished photographing Patcham's historic landmarks this week for the Images of England project, which aims to record all 360,000 of the country's listed buildings.

The Chattri, a marble monument erected high on the downs as a memorial to Hindu and Sikh soldiers who died during the First World War and were cremated at this beautiful spot, is Mr Priest's favourite landmark.

It is also among the photographs with which he is most pleased. He said: "My personal favourite, I think, is the Chattri because it is so isolated and I was able to get a nice stance looking up the steps."

He is also proud of his photograph of All Saints' Church.

He said: "I took it standing in the churchyard looking down the hill."

All Saints' is a Grade II listed church, whose oldest parts date back to the 12th Century. It is situated near a similarly protected dovecote and a dozen houses on Church Hill.

Among the listed landmarks photographed were the Elizabethan tandoori restaurant and an old flint wall - both in Old London Road - the windmill, and the old village barn, now converted into flats.

The project has helped Mr Priest keep fit and has added to his knowledge of his village.

He said: "You walk for three hours carrying a fairly heavy camera and tripod.

"It is a nice project. Being 72 you want encouragement to get out, you want encouragement to move around. I have been living here for 16 years and the project has given me more interest in the village itself - it is a very friendly community."

The four weeks spent taking pictures in the village is only a small part of the time Mr Priest has devoted to working on the English Heritage project, which will eventually form one of the world's largest on-line picture libraries.

Last summer he was kept busy taking pictures of listed buildings in other villages such as Ditchling and Wivelsfield and since finishing work in Patcham on Tuesday he has been shooting at the University of Sussex.

But it is putting Patcham back on the map with pictures of the hidden gems of his own village that seems to have pleased Mr Priest the most.

He said: "People who visit Brighton will be encouraged to come and visit Patcham.

It is like anywhere because if no one talks about it no one hears about it."

The website address for pictures of listed buildings is www.imagesofengland.org.uk