Research Guides

Sources for British and Irish Local History at Lambeth Palace Library

Introduction

This page is intended as a brief guide to the holdings of Lambeth Palace Library which are of particular interest to local historians, specifically those engaged in self-directed or life-long learning projects. It is not intended to be exhaustive.

In addition to the manuscript and archival sources described below, the Library has an extensive collection of printed sources including standard reference works, county, diocesan and parish histories and guides, early printed books and contemporary prints. Details can be obtained from the online catalogue or specific guidance obtained by writing to the Library.

Information relevant to local historians may also be found in the other guides to sources on this website.

Before you start

To get maximum benefit from your visit to Lambeth Palace Library, we suggest that you first explore the resources offered by the local studies library and/or record office for the county or town in which you are interested. Further details are available from the National Register of Archives, maintained by the National Archives.

Basic sources which should be available locally include:

The Victoria County History. Founded in 1899, the V.C.H. aimed to produce an historical encyclopaedia of England, by county, hundred and parish. The project is still ongoing and is now managed by the University of London through the Institute of Historical Research. Further details are available from the Victoria County History, which also provides a link to a number of other sites of interest to the local historian.

The Survey of London is an ongoing project begun in 1894 and now undertaken by English Heritage. It is a detailed and well-illustrated reference work on urban and architectural history, published in the form of area studies of individual parishes.

Local history as a subject has been popular since the sixteenth century and many of the early works are still essential sources. From the nineteenth century onwards, local history and record societies have been founded, which specialize in publishing works of local historical interest. Lambeth Palace Library does contain a number of such works, though most should be available locally. For further information you may find it helpful to consult the following books:

J.P. Anderson, The Book of British Topography: a classified catalogue of the topographical works in the British Museum relating to Great Britain and Ireland (London, 1881; reprinted 1976).
Royal Historical Society, Texts and calendars, E.L.C. Mullins (2 vols.) Gives full titles of publications of local and national societies to 1982.
N.B.L.Pevsner, Buildings of England series
English county histories: a guide, ed. C.R.J. Currie and C.P. Lewis, 1994.

The Oxford University Press bibliographies of British history include sections on local history.

The Vision of Britain website and the GENUKI website might also be of interest.

How this guide is arranged

Lambeth Palace Library has a vast range of material which is potentially of interest to local historians. Some resources have a wide geographical coverage, others are specific to a single place. To help you find the sources of greatest value to your research, this guide has been arranged topographically, by county (England only) or country (Wales, Scotland and Ireland). Each county section contains a list of sources of potential interest. Please note that this list is for guidance to potential sources which might otherwise be overlooked. It will not contain all material held by Lambeth Palace Library relating to the county in question. For further information about specific sources, including details of finding aids, please click on the links to our detailed holdings. Use your browser's "back" button to return to this Guide. The detailed holdings descriptions will not give information on the specific contents of any particular county. As most of our material dates from before county boundary changes in 1974, old county names have been used throughout, with place names and county based on Bartholomew's Gazetteer 9th edn. (Edinburgh, n.d.).

You should be aware that Church of England records (other than parish records) are normally created and held at diocesan level. The diocesan record office is often the local county record office, though further details may be obtained from Crockford's Clerical Directory or the National Register of Archives, maintained by the National Archives. It should, however, be noted that diocesan boundaries have been subject to many changes, especially at the Reformation and during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is therefore vital to check the records for the diocese in which any parish was situated at the point of time in which the researcher is interested. Records may also have been transferred to any subsequent diocese(s). The history of the diocesan and other boundaries with reference to individual parishes and townships may be traced in F.A. Youngs, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, vol. 1, Southern England (London, 1980) and vol. 2, Northern England (London, 1991).

The lists are intended for guidance only and are not exhaustive. Some collections with material of local interest have not been noted for each county. The Archbishops' Papers for example include considerable relevant material and Papal Documents deal mainly with individual monastic houses. Sources have been arranged by county but could also have been listed by city and other non-county jurisdictions, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The printed collections of histories, guides and prints should always be consulted; the catalogue is available online. You are very welcome to contact the Library for further guidance on specific localities.

Click on the appropriate county or country for a list of relevant archival sources held at Lambeth Palace Library.

Bedfordshire - Berkshire - Buckinghamshire
Cambridgeshire - Cheshire - Cornwall - Cumberland
Derbyshire - Devon - Dorset - Durham - Essex
Gloucestershire - Hampshire - Herefordshire
Hertfordshire - Huntingdonshire - Kent
Lancashire - Leicestershire - Lincolnshire
London and Middlesex - Norfolk
Northamptonshire - Northumberland - Nottinghamshire
Oxfordshire - Rutland - Shropshire - Somerset
Staffordshire - Suffolk - Surrey - Sussex
Warwickshire - Westmorland - Wiltshire
Worcestershire - Yorkshire

Wales - Ireland - Scotland

Bedfordshire

Archbishops' registers and Act Books
Carte Miscellanee
Court of Arches
Temporalities and Estate Documents
Includes a rental of the estates of the prebend of Bedford Major, 1459-87 (Estate Documents 225).
Commonwealth Records
Incorporated Church Building Society