About Us

The Royal Berkshire Archives (formerly the Berkshire Record Office) holds the archives of the Royal County of Berkshire. We look after nine hundred years of the County’s history. 

We were established in 1948 and are run as a joint service for the six district councils that provide local services in Berkshire. 

Our holdings include records of local government and administration, records of local Anglican and non-conformist churches, official public records relating to Berkshire, records of local organisations, societies and businesses, and records of individuals. 

Some of our most important collections relate to a wider area and include the national collection of Yellow Pages, records of Broadmoor Hospital and the Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation, and records of the Thames Conservancy. 

Our traditional paper-based records, which form the bulk of our collections, are stored onsite at the archives in Reading. These can be searched through our online catalogue and can either be viewed in person at the archives or you can contact us as to request copies or research. Since the 2010s we have also been collecting records in digital format and these can be viewed here.  

Most of the items available in the digital repository were received as digital records however it does also contain digital copies of a small proportion of our paper-based records.