Researching in our reading rooms

Preparing for your visit

Registering for a reader's ticket

To enter our document reading rooms, where you can view the original documents we hold, you need to have a reader's ticket. This is a plastic card with your name, photograph, reader's ticket number and a barcode on it.

To get one, you will need to register your personal details and watch a video explaining how to handle documents at The National Archives. You can do this online, in advance of your visit.

You will collect your reader's ticket when you visit us. You will need to bring two forms of identification with you and have your photo taken to receive it.

Reader's tickets

Find out how to get a reader's ticket, including what forms of identification we require.

Booking your visit and documents

You need to be allocated a specific desk in our reading rooms to view documents there.

You can book a desk on the day that you visit, but we recommend booking in advance, to ensure that a desk is available when you need it.

When you book your visit, you can also pre-order up to 12 original documents so that they are ready for you when you arrive. You must do this at least four working days before your visit, since some documents are stored offsite and will need to be brought to our reading rooms for you to use.

Booking a visit to view original documents

Find out how you can book in advance to view original documents in our reading rooms.

Opening times

Our document reading rooms are open Tuesday to Saturday. Opening times vary and can be different from other parts of our building.

Our reading rooms also close on and around bank holidays. We recommend checking our opening times before you visit.

Opening times

We are open from Tuesday to Saturday. Opening hours for our reading rooms, exhibitions, and other facilities vary.

Getting started

Using our cloakroom

After you arrive at our building in Kew, London, you can store any items that are not allowed in our reading rooms in the free cloakroom and lockers on the ground floor. The items you are not allowed are listed in our visitor regulations, under the conditions of entry for our reading rooms.

You can also pick up a free, clear plastic bag from our cloakroom to carry your personal items into the reading rooms.

Cloakroom and lockers

We offer free lockers for storing coats, bags, food and other items that are not permitted in our document reading rooms.

Picking up your reader's ticket

On the first floor you will see the Start Here desk, where a member of staff can help you if you have any questions about using the reading rooms.

This is also where you can pick up your reader's ticket, if this is your first visit. We will need some personal details from you and to see your two forms of identification. We will then to take a photograph of you, to issue you with your ticket.

Getting a certificate of attendance

We can provide a certificate of attendance if you require one. Sign the attendance diary at the Start Here desk for every day you study with us, and at the end of your visit, staff at the desk will issue you with a certificate for the days you have signed.

Finding the reading rooms

Our Document Reading Room is located on the first floor of our building. Our Map and Large Document Reading Room is on the second floor. Onsite signs and staff can help you to find where you need to go.

Document reading rooms

We have two spaces where you can read original historical documents: the Document Reading Room, and the Map and Large Document Reading Room.

Using the reading rooms

Entering the reading rooms

To use either reading room you will have to pass through security barriers.

Our security team will check your bag for any items that you are not permitted to bring inside.

• Please ensure that laptops and mobiles are in silent mode, and that you disable the flash on any camera equipment.
• We encourage you to bring an extra layer of clothing with you, in case you find our temperature-controlled spaces cold.

Once our security team are happy for you to enter, you may then scan your reader's ticket to pass through the barriers and into the reading room.

Finding your desk and collecting documents

If this is your first visit to the reading rooms, you will need to visit the Document Reading Room information desk to ask for your desk number.

If you have visited the reading rooms before, you can use one of our document status screens to find out your desk number. In the Document Reading Room, there are two attached to the wall either side of the information desk. In the Map and Large Document Reading Room, there is one attached to a pillar close to the enquiries desk.

In the Document Reading Room

Your desk number will be a digit from 1 to 42 and a letter from A to H. Each bank of desks in the reading room is labelled with a number, and each desk in that bank is labelled with a letter.

• The desk with your number and letter on it is yours to use for the day.
• Each desk has two plug sockets on it, which you are welcome to use to power your devices.

You can collect your documents from the document locker that has your desk number written on it. You may take one boxed item to your desk at a time, or no more than three bound volumes or tagged files.

In the Map and Large Document Reading Room

Your desk number will be the same as your desk number in the Document Reading Room. If you do not have a desk allocated to you in the Document Reading Room, you will be assigned a number.

No desks are allocated or reserved in the Map and Large Document Reading Room. You must find a free space to use that is suitable for the material that you are viewing.

Your desk number is only used to collect your documents at the document collection counter. Tell the staff there your desk number, and they will pass you whichever of your documents you would like to view first.

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Handling documents and taking photographs

Different types of historical documents need different approaches to handling them.

You can watch our video on how to handle documents whenever you need, as long as you do not make noise in quiet working areas. You will have watched this when you registered for your reader's ticket.

We also ask that you read our guidance on handling documents, which includes general tips, information on how to use handling aids, and specific guidance on handling paper, parchment, photographic materials and seals.

Handling documents

Explore The National Archives' document handling guidance and help preserve the documents in our care.

You can use your hand-held camera, phone, tablet or laptop to take still images of documents, as long as you do not use a flash, and respect copyright law.

Please read our guidance on photographing documents in our reading rooms for full information on which camera equipment you are permitted to use and what photography aids we can provide.

If you have any questions or need assistance with handling documents or taking photographs, you can ask our staff at the information desk in the Document Reading Room, or the document collection counter in the Map and Large Document Reading Room.

Photographing documents in our reading rooms

At The National Archives, you are welcome to take photographs of the documents you view. This guidance will support you in taking photos safely.

Returning your documents

When you have finished using particular documents, please take a moment to ensure that they are packed the same way that they were when you collected them. If you need any help with this, please ask our staff.

Each document must also have its accompanying yellow slip with it.

Once they are ready to return, if you are in the Document Reading Room, please take them to the document returns counter.

If you are in the Map and Large Document Reading Room, please place them in the appropriate space next to the document collection counter.

Ordering documents while you are here

If you would like to order original documents to view on the day of your visit, you can do this using the visitor computers in our reading rooms.

• You can order up to three documents at a time.
• Most on site orders take up to an hour to arrive.
• Document ordering closes before the reading rooms themselves do.

The hours that document ordering is available for on the current day is listed on our visitor computers on the 'Order documents' screen.

Document ordering is usually available at these times:

Taking breaks

You may leave and return to the reading rooms as many times as you like on the day of your visit, and you will not lose your desk in the Document Reading Room.

• There are no toilets in the reading rooms. Toilets can be found next to our Library, and there are accessible toilets next to the lifts on each floor.
• We have options to eat and drink, including a café serving light lunches and full meals. There you will also find a document screen that you can use to check whether documents you have ordered are ready for you to collect.
• You are allowed to bring your own food and drink into the café and other designated spaces around our building, including the first floor of our Welcome Hall and our landscaped grounds.
• You may wish to visit our exhibitions and displays.

When you have finished

You can arrange to reserve any of your documents to view again on another day within the next week.

• In the Document Reading Room, leave these documents in your document locker.
• In the Map and Large Document Reading Room, hand them to a member of staff at the document collection counter.

Please return all other documents you have used to the correct place.

Once you have finished, please use any of our computers or one of the white kiosks beside both reading room gates to tell us whether you would like to reserve any of your documents to use again. If you do not do this, any documents left in your document locker will be returned to our stores.

The computer or kiosk will also ask you to confirm that you no longer need your desk that day.

Access adjustments

We have a number of access aids and adjustments available to you when planning or booking a visit.

Accessibility

Find our detailed accessibility information and how to contact us if you have specific access needs.