The National Archives, Kew
The National Archives, Kew
The National Archives looks after the UK government’s documents. It holds records dating back nearly 1,000 years from the time of William the Conqueror’s Domesday Book to the present day. Some very famous documents created by some of the most important and significant people in the past are kept here, including Shakespeare’s will, Guy Fawkes’ signed confession and the 1225 version of Magna Carta.
The range of documents includes letters, reports, newspapers, photographs, maps, posters and even a mummified rat.
We hold approximately 11 million documents kept on about 100 miles of shelving. This shelving grows by at least a mile each year, as more and more documents are handed over to the archives by various government departments. In recent years, we have started to keep some of our documents in deep salt mines in Cheshire, in an attempt to save space at Kew.
Open a window on the past by browsing these vast National Archives at Kew.
Whether it be census results, military archives, the huge image bank or any of the other millions of types of documents stored here, you can find information about your family or any period of British history.
Explore the global impact of the First World War through our new online map, which highlights key events and figures in the conflict from our records.
School groups are encouraged to visit.
