Plan your visit to The National Archives in Kew

The National Archives

Although it would be impossible to list all the different types of documents we hold at The National Archives, this should give you some idea. Remember that details of births, marriages and deaths as well as microform census returns are kept at the Family Records Centre in Islington.

We hold the following:

Records of the royal courts, departments of state and other agencies of central government from the Norman Conquest to the present day. This includes:

• Central courts of law including King's Bench, Court of Common Pleas, Central Criminal Court, Assizes, Equity courts from the twelfth century
• Medieval records of central and local government
• A large collection of maps and plans
• Records for family historians including wills, naturalisation certificates and criminal records
• Service and operational records of the armed forces
• Foreign and Colonial Office correspondence and files
• Records of the modern central government departments
• Cabinet papers and Home Office records
• Statistics of the Board of Trade

We also hold:

• The National Register of Archives, which holds detailed catalogues of all kinds of records relating to British history held elsewhere
• The Manorial Documents Register, which notes the existence and location of manorial records in England and Wales.

Check the location of the documents at The National Archives

The National Archives stores a small percentage of its holdings of original records at an offsite storage facility. These records include:

• Documents which are also available on microfilm and microfiche at our Kew location
• Documents that have zero or low usage

Documents held offsite can be requested for viewing at The National Archives in Kew, if appropriate. Documents ordered before 11:00 will be made available within three working days from the request being made to the reading room staff. The normal off site document order is for three documents, unless a special request of up to 12 is made for a bulk order. Find out how to order documents in advance of your visit.

Plan your day

Allow plenty of time to find, order and read your documents. The latest time you can place an order is 16:00 except on Tuesdays and Thursdays when it is 16:30. Please also note that on Saturdays document ordering is suspended between 12:00 and 13:30.

You can only order three documents at once and after you have ordered them they can take up to 40 minutes to be delivered (sometimes longer in exceptional cases).

New reader orientation tours

When you register, you will be offered a tour to help you get the best out of your day. The tours run once a day at 14:15. Please book at reception if you are interested in attending.

Certificates of attendance

If you need a certificate of attendance you will have to sign the attendance diary in the research enquiries room for every day you study with us. At the end of your visit, ask a member of staff in the enquiries room for the certificate.

Other points

• Children: Although we welcome anyone aged 14 or over, young children are likely to become bored. You can find out about local childcare from the Children's Information Service for Richmond Upon Thames, Tel: +44 (0) 208 831 6298
• Pets: Animals, apart from working dogs
• Smoking: No smoking is allowed in the building
• Food: No food or drink is allowed in the reading rooms
• Prohibited Items: You cannot use pens, coloured pencils, scanners, or mobile phones in the reading rooms

For full details of the regulations see rules of The National Archives(79kb)