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Surrey History Centre in
Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, England, collects and rescues archives and printed materials relating to Surrey's past and present.


Building and facilities

The present building was conceived in the mid-1990s, driven by the need, recognised by
Surrey County Council Surrey County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Surrey, England. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1974 the Conservative Party has held the majority. The leader ...
since the late 1970s, to replace the former Surrey Record Office, then in
Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...
. The building concept was influenced by the West Sussex Record Office under construction at the time. The construction project was an early recipient of
Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
funding, being awarded £2.75M in December 1995. This supplemented the provision of the site and £3.75M funding from Surrey County Council. The design was by W.S. Atkins and MJ Gleeson Group were the contractor. The centre was formally opened on 31 March 1999 by
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
. The new building brought together collections from the Surrey Record Office, the Guildford Muniment Room (a Grade II
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
), and the Surrey Local Studies Library, formerly located in Guildford Library.


Collections

Among the most notable collections are the official records of Surrey County Council since 1889; the historical records of the Mores and More-Molyneux of
Loseley Park Loseley Park is a large Tudor manor house with later additions and modifications south-west of Guildford, Surrey, England, in Artington close to the hamlet of Littleton. The estate was acquired by the direct ancestors of the current owners, th ...
, near
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
; the records of the many mental hospitals in the county; Philip Bradley's collection of fairground photographs; papers of
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...
and "Carrolliana"; the papers of the Labour politician and Home Secretary
James Chuter Ede James Chuter Chuter-Ede, Baron Chuter-Ede, (; 11 September 1882 – 11 November 1965), was a British teacher, trade unionist and Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for 32 years, and served as the sole Home Secretary u ...
; manuscripts and papers of the author R. C. Sherriff; archives, plans and garden designs of
Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British Horticulture, horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United Sta ...
; archives of the infantry regiments associated with the county, including the
Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Arm ...
, the
East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ( ...
and the
Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army which existed from 1959 to 1966. In 1966, it was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment, the Royal Sussex Regiment and the Middlesex Re ...
; archives of Surrey clubs, societies and local organisations, including
Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South Londo ...
and
Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...
Grandstand Association; and the archives of major businesses such as
Dennis Specialist Vehicles Dennis Specialist Vehicles was an English manufacturer of commercial vehicles based in Guildford, building buses, fire engines, lorries (trucks) and municipal vehicles such as dustcarts. All vehicles were made to order to the customer's require ...
Ltd of
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
. The archives of John Broadwood & Sons and a large number of papers relating to members of the Broadwood family, including
Lucy Broadwood Lucy Etheldred Broadwood (9 August 1858 – 22 August 1929) was an English folksong collector and researcher, and great-granddaughter of John Broadwood, founder of the piano manufacturers Broadwood and Sons. As one of the founder members of the ...
the folk song collector, which are all housed at Surrey History Centre, were the subject of an extensive conservation programme, aided by Heritage Lottery Fund funding and completed in 2006. Surrey History Centre holds an extensive collection of parish registers. Most of their Church of England parish registers, from 1538 to 1987 (baptisms to 1912; marriages to 1937; and burials to 1987) are now available via ancestry.co.uk. The online ''Guide to parish registers held at Surrey History Centre'' indicates that significant numbers of the registers for parishes historically in Surrey but now in London are held by
London Metropolitan Archives The London Archives (previously known as the Greater London Record Office 1965–1997, and London Metropolitan Archives 1997–2024) is the principal local government archive repository for the Greater London area, including the City of London ...
.


See also

*
Surrey Archaeological Society Surrey Archaeological Society is a county archaeological society, founded in 1854 for "the investigation of subjects connected with the history and antiquities of the County of Surrey" in England. Remit The Society concerns itself with "the Cou ...
* Surrey Historic Buildings Trust *
Surrey Record Society Surrey Record Society is a text publication society which edits and publishes historic records relating to the county of Surrey, England. The society concerns itself with the historic county, which includes, in addition to the current administrati ...
*


References


Sources

* * * * (reissued 1981) *


External links

* * * {{Authority control County record offices in England History of Surrey Woking Archives in Surrey