Visit the Research Room to view Croydon Archives and Local History Collection. It is open to all and free of charge. Our opening hours are 10am-1pm and 1:30pm-4:30pm on Wednesdays Fridays and Saturdays, and 10am-1pm on Thursdays. Access is by prior appointment and material held in our stores must be ordered in advance. We welcome walk-ins for open-access material, subject to availability.

Croydon Archives is committed to and believes that all people and sectors of the community have a fundamental right to engage with, use and enjoy Croydon Archives’ collections and services.

Many of our Local History Collections are available in the Research Room on open-access. These include:

• Street directories

• Ordnance Survey Maps

• Tithe Maps

• Photographs arranged by street

• Electoral registers

• Historic local newspapers on microfilm – we have two microfilm readers (although not essential, it is advised to pre-book a reader in advance of your visit to avoid disappointment)

• A selection of local history books

• Books, pamphlets and ephemera boxes for WWI & WWII

• WWII bomb damage reports with many accompanying bomb damage photographs

• WWII civil defence photographs

We have five computer stations where free access to Findmypast.co.uk is available for family history research. Find My Past includes censuses for many countries including England, Wales and Scotland from 1841 to 1921, as well as military, school, immigration/emigration, electoral, court and probate records.

*We have lots of other local history material held in our stores, such as sales particulars, pamphlets, Council minutes, photographs arranged by subject, and clippings/ephemera files for Croydon people, pubs, churches, roads and a variety of popular research topics. These resources are available to access on request - please email archives@croydon.gov.uk to find out more.

Our service

We offer a remote enquiries service to help researchers identify relevant archival and local history material from our collections, and to signpost relevant material held elsewhere. If you are not able to visit the Research Room in person, we will do our best to help find the information you are looking for.

You can search and browse our online catalogue to find out what archival collections we hold. Not all our collections have been catalogued yet, so do ask what else might be available.

Our Research Room staff and volunteers are on hand to guide visitors to using the resources in the Research Room.

We can offer workshops and talks for groups - email archives@croydon.gov.uk to find out more.

Visiting us

All visitors must sign an appointment slip, agreeing to comply with our Research Room requirements. We encourage visitors to familiarise themselves with these requirements ahead of their appointment, to ensure all procedures are followed. These procedures are in place to protect the collections and provide a safe and enjoyable environment for all.

When visiting the Research Room, please follow our guidelines on self-service photography.

Our fees are listed here.