Getting here
Find out more about your travel options to The National Archives.
Visual journey
This guide will show you the different spaces at The National Archives to help you prepare for and plan your visit.
Important information
Please note that some parts of our building may be slightly different to the below. For example, some of our displays are regularly changed.
Before you enter
If walking from the nearby train stations, bus stops or the surrounding area, you will notice that we are based in a quiet neighbourhood.
You might encounter some loud traffic from nearby roads on your journey.
Kew Gardens Station
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Kew Gardens Station, Westbound platform (platform one).
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Outside Kew Gardens Station. This exit is closest to The National Archives. https://www.alamy.com/kew-gardens-station-a-london-underground-and-overground-station-near-richmond-entrance-with-palm-trees-on-a-sunny-blue-sky-day-image471469641.html?imageid=3CCD94B3-56B4-4F5A-A53A-0B05463ACC29&pn=1&searchId=a09ef8e6841eb94b79a5e0b14ff7eeb7&searchtype=0
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Local shops and cafés can be found nearby the station. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-people-outside-kew-gardens-station-on-a-sunny-day-north-road-london-121592197.html?imageid=97F02AC9-ACA5-4513-9AB3-31400C628DFA&pn=1&searchId=a09ef8e6841eb94b79a5e0b14ff7eeb7&searchtype=0
Kew Gardens Station can get busy, especially during rush hour or other peak times. It has two platforms for train going westbound or eastbound.
Signs at the station will show you where to find different exits out of the station. The exit on the westbound platform is closest to The National Archives. You can also ask a member of TfL staff for support.
Kew Bridge Station
Kew bridge station can can get busy, especially during rush hour or other peak times. It has two platforms with trains going to central London (Waterloo) and towards Surrey (Weybridge).
Kew Bridge Station: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-kew-bridge-station-in-hounslow-sw-london-uk-94312663.html
Bus route R68
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The R68 bus
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The Kew Park bus stop. This is about a two minute walk from our building.
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The R68 bus route from Hampton Court via Richmond stops by the entrance to The National Archives. The bus stop is called 'Kew Retail Park'.
Bus Route 110
To reach us from the 110 bus from Hounslow to Hammersmith via Richmond, get off the bus at Mortlake Road near Kew Green (10-minute walk).
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The 110 bus
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The Mortlake road bus stop. This is about a ten minute walk from our building.
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The entrance
This is the entrance to The National Archives from Ruskin Avenue.
From here, you will see a pathway that leads into The National Archive building. This will be in front of you.
If you turn left, you will arrive at our park area.
Pathway to The National Archives' building.
Pocket park
This is our park space.
You are welcome to rest here to eat, chat or sit.
Water displays
Outside of our building, we have a large pond with water features. This includes a waterfall and foundation display.
The right side of the pond might have water fountains turned on when you visit. Water will spray up, but it will not reach you. You might hear a ‘whoosh’ sound as you walk past.
You may see some swans, ducks and other animals in the water. Please do not feed or pet the animals.
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A view of the pond to the left of the main path into The National Archives.
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A view of the pond to the right of the main path into The National Archives.
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Fish, swans and ducks live in this water.
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This fountain can be found on the right side of the pond. It may not be on when you visit.
Outdoor seating area
As you get closer to our building, you will see a few seating areas including benches and tables with chairs.
You are welcome to eat, chat and rest here. It is normally a quiet area.
No smoking is allowed in this area or else anywhere at The National Archives.
Beaches are placed just outside our building.
Entrance to The National Archives' building
This is the main entrance to The National Archive building. The red arrows are pointing to where you can enter the building.
When you arrive at the front of the building, you can enter through either the left or right side.
Both entrances have automatic doors. Feel free to use whichever is more convenient.
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There are two automatic sliding doors you can use to enter the building. These lead to a revolving door or wheelchair accessible door (with a 'open door' button) into the building.
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This revolving door or wheelchair-accessible entrance can let you into The National Archives.
Ground floor
Welcome hall
Where you get into The National Archives building, you will enter our Welcome hall.
This is a circle shaped room that connects to other parts of the building. This can be busy and a little loud. The room also has a piano which you are welcome to play.
This is our Welcome hall.
Please note displays are sometimes placed in the centre of this space. If a display is there, you are welcome to take your time looking at it.
In this space, you will see our visitor experience hosts. They are here to welcome you and answer any questions you have about The National Archives.
Someone from our security team may ask to look inside your bag here. This is to make sure all our visitors and staff feel safe.
The people you will see here
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Our team members will be here to say hello. They will be wearing a black t-shirt that says, 'Here to help' and 'The National Archives'.
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Someone from our security will ask to look into your bag. This is to keep all our visitors and staff safe.
From here, if you go through the entrance on the left, you will find more spaces to explore.
By walking through here, you will be able to visit our café, shop, exhibition space and more.
Café
At our café you can buy food and drinks.
This includes hot meals, like jacket potatoes, and cold meals, like sandwiches.
You are welcome to sit, eat and chat in our café.
You will find lots of seating here including benches and booths. You are welcome to sit here if you are or are not eating or buying food.
Café staff are here to help you. They can hand you food from behind our counter and make you hot drinks. They can also talk to you about allergy information.
Our team will be there to help you.
This area can get busy and loud, especially at lunchtimes.
If you would prefer to sit somewhere quiet, please speak to a member of our visitor experience team. They can direct to another area that is less busy.
Shop
Our shop is to your right after walking through the doorway. It is opposite the café.
Here you can buy things like books, tote bags and posters.
The National Archives shop.
If you want to buy something from our shop, please take your item to the counter and a team member will help you.
Staff will be standing behind the counter. They can answer any questions you have. They can also help you to buy something from our shop.
Our shop can get busy. The noise from the café can be heard from here too, making it loud at times.
Cloakroom and lockers
The cloakroom is near the café and located to the right of the exhibition space.
In there, you will find lockers that are free to use. This is where you can leave bags and other big items that are not allowed in the exhibition space or reading rooms.
Our cloakrooms are to the left of the exhibition space.
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This is our cloakroom.
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You can learn how to use our lockers from our staff or using the guidance shown on each locker.
In the cloakroom, you can also borrow a clear plastic bag. This is to hold things you may need in our reading rooms like your laptop or notepad.
You can find these bags near the cloakroom lockers. They are free to use.
Exhibition space
At the National Archives, we often have an exhibition where people can learn more about a subject and records from our collection.
This exhibition is free to all visitors. You are welcome to take all the time you need to explore this space.
This is an example of one of our previous exhibitions, 'MI5: Official Secrets'. This is now closed but the space is still used to host other exhibitions.
When you get into the exhibition space you will find information in:
- Records from our collection on display
- Information boards
- Pictures
- Interactive displays
- Audio guides
- TV screens showing video content
The exhibition space is wheelchair accessible and will have plenty of places to sit if you want to take a break.
Before you enter our exhibition, you might have to queue. If would find waiting in a queue difficult, please talk to our staff. They can find a different waiting place to suit your needs.
A team member will also ask you to put your things in a locker in our cloakroom. They can show you how to find the cloakroom. There will also be signs to guide you.
First floor
To get into our main spaces, you will need to go through security scanners. This is to make sure all visitors, staff and our records stay safe.
To enter the first floor, you will need to walk through our security scanners.
On the first floor, you can use our desks and computers as part of our research process.
This is normally quiet space.
You can also visit our Start Here desk. Here, staff will be happy to talk to you and point you to resources that might help you to begin your research.
Our Start Here desk.
Members of our team will also be on the first floor to help you and answer questions.
Our team members will be wearing a black t-shirt that says, 'Here to help' and 'The National Archives'.
Library
The library will be on your right after you pass the security scanners.
Our library has lots of things to help you with your research. This includes computers and reference books.
Members of our team will be there to help you and answer questions.
The National Archives' library.
Our collections experts at our Research Enquiries desk can help you with your research.
Unlike the Start Here desk, the staff at this desk can support you with in-depth questions about our records.
Our Research Enquires desk.
Reading room
The Document Reading Room will be on your left after you pass the security scanners.
Here, you can look at records that you have ordered to view. To access our reading rooms, you will need a reader's ticket. You can order this from our website or in person.
Researching in our reading rooms
A step-by-step guide of what to expect when you research with original documents in our reading rooms.
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You will need to use your reader's ticket to enter the Document Reading Room.
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Once inside the Document Reading Room, you can collect your records from your assigned locker.
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Once you have your records, you can look at them at your assigned seat.
You will be assigned a seat when ordering your documents.
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Our team members can help you get started. They can also answer any questions you have about reaching at The National Archives.
Second floor
Map and Large Document Reading Room
The Map and Large Document Reading Room works in the same way as the Document Reading Room on the first floor.
However, our Map and Large Document Reading Room is where you can view documents that are large in size, unusually-shaped or rolls of parchment.
You will need to use your reader's ticket to enter the Map and Large Document Reading Room.
Once inside, you can collect the documents you have ordered at collection counter. This is at the back and on your left as you enter.
The collection counter in the Map and Large Document Reading Room.
Once you have your document, you can take it to any available desk to view.
You can also ask for help from our staff at the Enquires Desk. This is found on the right as you enter the reading room.
The enquires desk in the Map and Large Document Reading Room.
Document reading rooms
Find out more about The National Archives' reading rooms.
Stairs and lift
From the ground floor, you can find the lift and the stairs next to our exhibition space (to the left).
You will also see signs to help you find the stairs and lift.
If you are not sure where to go, a member of our team will be happy to help you.
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This is our public lift.
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This is our stair from the ground floor.
Toilets
There are toilets on every floor of the building. This includes accessible toilets for wheelchair users.
Signs will show you how to get to our toilets. Our team members will also be happy to direct you.
This sign can be found on our accessible toilets.
We also have men's and women's toilets.
Emergency exits
If the fire alarm goes off, loud sounds and flashing lights will start.
If this happens, you will need to leave the building quickly and calmly by the nearest fire escape.
You can find these by looking for the green fire exit signs.
Fire exit signs can be seen around The National Archives.
Members of our team will guide you to the nearest exit.
It is important to not use the lift if you hear the alarm. If you can not use the stairs, please talk to a member of our team.