London Borough of Croydon

Archives

How to view our documents

We collect manuscripts that are of value in the study of the past, present and future of Croydon.  You can view them by visiting us in the Local Studies Library on Level 3 of Central Library.

If you would like to look at any of our documents, please telephone or email us using the contact details below at least 24 hours in advance.  This is because we keep our documents in a secure temperature-controlled store and it is not always possible to retrieve them without notice.

How to find out what we have in our collections

If you want to view material from the archive collection, you will have to provide the relevant reference numbers from Research Croydon or our paper catalogues and indexes.

Archive documents are considered to exist as part of individual collections (although a collection may sometimes consist of only one document).  Each archive collection, and component of that collection, has a unique reference number. For example:

  • All the records in the collection of records for Purley Oaks Primary School have the reference number SCH89.
  • All the records of the same type within this collection are grouped with a series. The reference number for the series of log books at Purley Oaks.
  • Primary School is SCH89/1, that for admission registers is SCH89/2 and so on.
  • The items within these series are given individual numbers, often in chronological order. The earliest listed admission register of Purley Oaks.
  • Primary School has the reference number SCH89/2/1.
  • Sometimes items may be made up of more than one piece, such as enclosures, photographs etc.

The types of documents we hold

We hold eight broad categories of records, those of

  • Croydon council and predecessor authorities
  • Deeds and estates
  • Hospitals
  • Local historians and writers
  • Non-official organisations
  • Parish and religious organisations
  • Schools
  • Statutory and official bodies

Our Local Studies Library collection includes books, maps, newspapers, photographs and other sources of historical information.  Please see the Local Studies Library page for further information.

Contact Details

Contact name
Local Studies Library
Telephone
020 8726 6900
Fax
020 8253 1012
Email
localstudies@croydon.gov.uk
Address
Level 3
Central Library
Croydon Clocktower
Katharine Street
Croydon CR9 1ET

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