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Funded and Managed by
City of London Corporation

The London Archives

A group of people viewing archive documents at The London Archives.

Explore London's Story

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Shelves full of books at The London Archives.

Explore London's Story

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Explore London's Story

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1000 Years of London's History

The London Archives is a free public archive focussing on the history of London from 1067 to the present day. Visit us to explore millions of historical manuscripts, maps, photographs, books and films or enjoy our exhibitions, events and workshops. Entrance is free and everyone is welcome.

Explore your story. Uncover London's history. Discover The London Archives.

Lost Victorian City

Free exhibition

Our next events

Our events programme has something for everyone, from history workshops to behind the scenes tours.
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Exhibition
Curator's Exhibition Tour - Lost Victorian City
Book your place
25 October - Every month our curators will guide you through the exhibition uncovering a lost Victorian London.
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Performance
Magic Lantern Show
Book your tickets
24 October - Join us for an evening of entertainment by the renowned magic lantern performers Jeremy and Carolyn Brooker with live piano music accompaniment.
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What's On
London Talks: Women's Football
Evening Talk
14 November - A talk with Professor Jean Williams, author of The History of Women's Football and Professor of Sport.
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What's On
Nick Hornby – About a Boy
Book Group
16 October - Book Group meets monthly to explore a range of London writing, with a remit covering fiction and non-fiction for all periods.
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Learning
Archives on Show: The City of London’s Bridges
Document viewing
11 October - Our Archives on Show events are a chance for us to show you the sheer range of material we hold at The London Archives. This month, bridges!
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What's On
Victorian Spiritualism
and 'The Other Side of Mrs Wood'
4 December - Join us at The London Archives as author Lucy Barker presents her critically acclaimed debut novel 'The Other Side of Mrs Wood'.
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What's On
Archives on Show: Lost Victorian City
Document viewing
11 November - Our Archives on Show events are a chance for us to show you the sheer range of material we hold at The London Archives. This session takes a closer look at documents from the Victorian era.

King John and Magna Carta

Free Document Display

Current exhibitions

The London Archives has a changing programme of exhibitions throughout the year both in Clerkenwell and the Heritage Gallery at the Guildhall Art Gallery. Look out for our outdoor exhibitions too.
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Exhibition
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Exhibition
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Exhibition
City of London, a city of science
Free exhibition at the Heritage Gallery

Search the catalogue

1000 Years of London's History

The London Archives Blog

Explore stories and articles about the archives and London's history in our blog.

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News
Hello from The London Archives
...and a fond farewell to the metropolitan
Find out why we've changed our name to The London Archives.
Victorian architects consult rolled plans at the reconstruction of the Crystal Palace in 1852
Exhibition
Philip Henry Delamotte and the Crystal Palace
Exhibition highlights
Highlighting some of the features of our Lost Victorian City Exhibition - we explore the rarely seen Crystal Palace in photographs from 1852.
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Exhibition
Seed Cake recipe
Tastes from the Lost Victorian City
Experimenting with Victorian recipes - this time we're trying out a seed cake.
Victorian print showing women modelling the latest fashion
Exhibition
Victorian Fashion Prints
Exhibition highlights
Highlighting some of the features of our Lost Victorian City Exhibition, here we take a look at Victorian fashion prints.
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Book Group
'The Crimson Petal and the White' by Michael Faber
September 2024 Book Group
Find out about The London Archives' book group in September 2024 where we discussed 'The Crimson Petal and the White' by Michael Faber.
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Exhibition
Tower Bridge and the Port of London
Exhibition Highlights
Highlighting some of the features of our Lost Victorian City Exhibition - we explore the Port of London.

In Focus

Discover our work and services, and find out more about us.
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Our Services
About us
Our history, organisation and governance
City of London Logo White on Black
About Us
The City of London Corporation
Governing the Square Mile
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Our Services
Our services
Copying services, boxes, images and more
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About Us
Our history
The history of The London Archives
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Our Work
Collections Care
Archive conservation at The London Archives
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Our Services
Copying services for documents and images
Requesting copies of items in the archive
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Our Work
New Acquisitions
Collecting and preserving London's history
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Our Work
Digitisation
Our commercial digitisation offer
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Our Work
Our work
Preserving and sharing London's Archives

Our Projects

Read about our projects and partnerships
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Our Work
Bridging History Project
City Bridge project
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Our Work
Positive History Project
Preserving the archives of HIV/AIDS
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Our Work
The Africa Centre Project
Cataloguing the collection
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Our Work
Projects
Current and previous project work
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The London Picture Archive

Images and Maps

What our visitors say

I have made many visits in the past 20 years to this valuable and wonderful archive centre. The staff are always so helpful, knowledgeable, and approachable. If you have London ancestry, be sure to pay a visit.
Google review
Really interesting location with well presented current exhibition and an excellent series of talks and lectures.
Google review
I came to search for information on smallpox, Dr Ricketts and the hospitals in Darenth. The staff were excellent - very helpful and I found exactly what I was looking for.
Google review
Great exhibitions and reading rooms if you're into that.. staff are knowledgeable and friendly. Great times.
Google review
I visited today and found the staff extremely knowledgeable helpful and friendly
Google review
Very interesting had a tour and viewed some posters and books ... so much held here amazing
Google review