Local history guide

Discovering the history of your locality and its community can be a fascinating and exciting experience. Have you ever wondered who used to live in your house, or what an area would have been like over a hundred years ago? Perhaps you would like to find out more about your community and how it has developed and changed over the years.

If you are new to local history research you may find the Getting Started section of this guide helpful. It asks some basic questions and gives some very basic advice.

This online guide also uses a series of themes to explore the sources available to further your research at the Archive Service and the William Salt Library. Each theme heading links to a series of related sub-themes and, where relevant, online guides to sources and catalogues.