Wiltshire Local Studies

The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre houses a comprehensive Local Studies Collection consisting of over 50,000 items dating from the 17th century to the present day, the largest collection focusing on the county of Wiltshire in the world. It has become a centre for local history research.

Our collection:
  • Printed books, published and unpublished
  • General reference ‘Heritage’ collection
  • Digital images and documents
  • Map collection
  • Local directories
  • Local newspapers on microfilm
  • Ephemera collection
  • Pamphlets, reports, leaflets
  • Journal collection
  • Audio collection
  • Moving Images collection
  • Wiltshire Author collection
  • Creative Wiltshire collection
  • Historic Photograph and Print collection

Our aim is to preserve, promote and value the knowledge of the county but also to provide access to material for all to enjoy. Our collection can be searched using Wiltshire Libraries’ online catalogue (choosing the branch ‘Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre’).

The Memory Box Reading group meets on the first and third Wednesday of the month, 2-3.30pm. You can find out more here

Our Memory Box Reading group podcasts are now also available online, read by the group’s organiser, Local Studies Lead Julie Davis, focussing on local history and illustrated with interesting images.

If you’d like to spend some time exploring online heritage resources, our suggestions include Know Your Place.

Our award winning Wiltshire Community History website is also free to view.

With Wiltshire Local Studies you can find out what life was like in Wiltshire’s towns and villages and how our communities have changed over time; about the people who lived in them, the houses they lived in, events that happened and the shops and businesses which have operated over the years.

You will find fascinating articles, stories, images and much more besides.

Colour postcard view of Chippenham High Street with Victorian lamp post including sign for 'Blackford Furnishing Ironmonger'

We also have a general reference collection; a great resource for reading around a topic to fill in those important facts and references. Our general collection includes the Clergy List, Alumni Oxonienses and Cantabrigienses, Burke’s Peerage and Landed Gentry, English Historical Documents, The Cambridge Social History of England, the Dictionary of National Biography, Who was Who, books on landscape studies, history, archaeology and genealogical guides.

Our map collection contains Ordnance Survey maps of various editions, reproductions of maps from the 16th to 19th centuries, Goad Town Plans, geological and specialist maps.

Local newspapers are available on microfilm (please contact us to pre-book a viewer).

Contact us

Access to the British Newspaper Library and Ancestry Library Edition is available at the History Centre and at all Wiltshire Libraries.

You will find a Local Studies collection in every Wiltshire library, each a dedicated set of books relevant to the local community. Salisbury Library is the regional repository for the southern half of the county.

Many of our books can be loaned; contact your local Wiltshire Library for further information.

Happy researching!
Julie Davis
County Local Studies Librarian

About Wiltshire Studies

Photographs and Prints

Online Resources

Contact us

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre
Cocklebury Road
Chippenham
SN15 3QN

E: archives@wiltshire.gov.uk
T: 01249 705500