Staff on duty in the search rooms are happy to answer enquiries from the general public, whether in person, over the telephone, via letter or via email. Our enquiries normally relate to family history, the history of a house or piece of land, the history of a community, or research into a particular subject or topic. Before making an enquiry it is worth checking our detailed guides (available through the menu on the right) to research to check if your question has already been answered. You may also wish to consult the community history pages for enquiries relating to specific towns and parishes in Wiltshire. A maximum of twenty minutes per enquirer is currently available free of charge to help answer these enquiries.

Research Service

Whilst we aim to provide as much information as we can by correspondence, we understand that many researchers would love to visit us and use the records we have available but are unable to do so for logistical reasons. If your enquiry requires more than twenty minutes research, we now offer a paid research service which can undertake prolonged searches for you.

The service can be used to:

• Research aspects of family history
• Investigate matters of local or community history
• Search for documents relating to the history of a house or building
• Find maps and plans relating to businesses

The paid research service can also take digital images of most records within our archives and provide them to enquirers on a disc or via online file transfer.

The cost of using the service is £38 per hour or £74 per hour for our Express service (which offers a guaranteed three working day turnaround). The Express service is subject to availability. If you are interested in using the service or wish to discuss your requirements, please email us at archives@wiltshire.gov.uk. We aim to provide results for our research service within 30 days of receiving a research request form.

Use of artificial intelligence (AI) to draft enquiries and requests:

We would like to accommodate requesters who are using developing technology as we understand it can help to assist with potential obstacles in gaining access to records.

In recent times we have seen the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) to help make information requests. We would like to make customers aware that despite its obvious user advantages, using AI to draft a request may result in asking for more information than the requester is looking for. Please be sure to check that the AI request reflects your actual information needs before sending it to us. When a request is broad enough to exceed our free or paid research capacity, we will provide appropriate advice and assistance to help the requester reformulate their request.

You may have noticed that AI responses can also be very long, repetitive and sometimes contain unrelated comments or misdirected demands. Receiving requests such as this can make it harder for staff to identify the information being requested taking valuable time to process and understand what is actually required of the service.

But just because a request contains inaccuracies, it doesn’t mean it’s invalid. People sometimes make mistakes in their requests without using AI and we are always happy to respond as best as we can. For more information please see the Information Commissioner’s Office recommendations and guidance on making effective information requests.