Wiltshire and Swindon Archives
About us
The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre is home to over 800 years of history, holding records that tell the story of the county and its people since the 12th century. On its eight miles of shelves are stored diaries, letters, books, maps, photographs, oral histories, and more, that connect Wiltshire with local, national and international events, people and places. These records were produced in the course of everyday personal, legal, business and administrative affairs, and now form a significant source of historical information for all aspects of life in Wiltshire. The Wiltshire and Swindon Archives was established in 1947 to preserve these records and make them available to the public and to academic researchers.
FREE home access to Wiltshire Parish Records and Wills on Ancestry
The History Centre and Ancestry currently continue to provide free home access to Wiltshire Parish Registers (1538-1922) and Wiltshire Wills & Probate (1530-1858). You will be able to search more than 6.8 million names in records of baptisms, marriages and burials, as well as wills and probate, from the comfort of your own home. The collection includes:
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Wiltshire Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1916
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Wiltshire Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1922
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Wiltshire Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
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Wiltshire Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1922
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Wiltshire Wills and Probates, 1530-1858
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Wiltshire, England, Non-Conformist Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1704-1987
Click on this link to search the Wiltshire records and to see the full results create a free guest account. You only need to provide an email address and password, and accept the terms and conditions of the website. This only applies to the Wiltshire records. Access to the rest of Ancestry remains behind a paywall.
Don’t forget to have a look at our research tools including our guide to researching family history.
Search our online catalogue
Our catalogue is based on monthly extracts from our in-house database. It contains catalogues of most of our holdings, although some significant collections of non-conformist records and other records are still awaiting conversion to database format. Search here. If you would like to see any original documents from our catalogue, please note the reference number and email us to make a booking (we are open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and the first Saturday of each month 9:30am to 5pm). You can pre-order up to 10 items in advance of your visit and we can guarantee these to be ready for you if you email us 48 hours in advance or longer. Any further items can be ordered on the day if you have time.
Our search room security and document production procedures have changed. Read more here.
Newsletter and Wiltshire List
To stay up to date with all that is happening at the History Centre sign up to our newsletter by emailing heritageadmin@wiltshire.gov.uk
You can view the books recently added to our Local Studies library collection by downloading our latest Wiltshire List here.
Our History
We have produced a recent history of the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives 1987-2017
Read our annual report of Heritage Service activities April 2024 – March 2025
About Us
Research Tools
What We Do
Contact us
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre
Cocklebury Road
Chippenham
SN15 3QN
E: archives@wiltshire.gov.uk
T: 01249 705500
Family & House History
We now have a comprehensive guide to researching family history giving tips on how to use online and other resources to establish connections as far back as 1837 and beyond.
The Wiltshire Family History Society are offering 45 minute sessions to provide help with your family history. Please see our events page or email archives@wiltshire.gov.uk for more details.
Wondering about the history of your property? A comprehensive guide to using our records to undertake research on buildings, land and property is now available online.
Wiltshire Wills project
We hold in our archive 105,000 historic wills dating from 1540 to 1858. This collection has now been digitised by ourselves in partnership with Ancestry and was published online at Ancestry in 2018. Find out more about Wiltshire wills here.
Policies
You can view all Wiltshire and Swindon Archives policy documents here.
