Donate Your Collection to the Historic England Archive

We focus on collections that record our archaeological, architectural and cultural heritage. Accessible to the public, they allow us to share memories and lived histories of places in England. 

The Historic England Archive holds over 14 million items and continues to grow. We're acquiring collections that shed new light on England's unique historic environment. Can you help us by adding to our archive collections?

Contact us about collections of photographs, drawings and plans, both historic and modern. We're very grateful to everyone who gives us material. Entrusting your collection to us will ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy it.

How do we decide which collections to accept?

In deciding whether to accept a collection offered to us we’ll consider whether:

• The collection fills a gap in our existing holdings or enhances what we already hold
• There’s another archive which would be a more appropriate home for a collection. A local record office is sometimes the best choice for collections about particular places
• The records are original – we don't usually accept copies of material available elsewhere
• The collection is well documented and organised so that we can provide access to researchers

Read the Collections Development Policy

Our latest acquisitions

Every year, we acquire lots of new collections for the Archive. Before they appear online, they need conserving, cataloguing and digitising.

Here are some of our latest acquisitions:

• Photographs of Whitechapel Bell Foundry
  This collection comprises 14 black and white photographs showing Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London. The photographs were taken in 1974 by professional photographer John Lurcook (1926-2020). (Reference: JXL01)
• Photograph album of Keele Hall, Staffordshire
  This photograph album was compiled in around 1900. Further photographs were added in the 1960s. The album contains 59 photographs. They show external and internal views of the house, the gardens, parkland and church. (Reference: KHA01)
• Norman Harrison photographs
  This collection comprises around 5,000 photographs taken by professional photographer Norman Kingsley Harrison (1891-1971). They include medical scenes and images of leisure and holidays. There are also photographs of streets and war-time activities during the Second World War. (Reference: NKH01)
• Stanley Jones Collection
  Stanley Jones (1927-2017) was a building surveyor, art teacher and architectural historian. This collection includes notebooks and photographs compiled by Jones, who specialised in recording vernacular architecture. (Reference: SJC01)

• John Downden slides
  John Dowden (1924-2002) was a civil servant and a private pilot. The 10 colour 35mm slides in the collection were taken by him from the air between 1980 and 1993. They show views of the north-east of England during a period of industrial change. (Reference: SJD01)
• John Strubbe Collection
  This collection comprises drawings, photographs and notes relating to the work of architect John Alexander Strubbe (died 2019). It includes plans for commercial and domestic buildings. (Reference: JSC01)
• Peter Dlugiewicz drawings
  Around 500 physical and digital drawings by architect Peter Dlugiewicz make up this collection. A specialist in plasterwork and scagliola, Dlugiwicz’s work includes plans for the Royal Opera House and the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich. (Reference: PDD01)
• Records of Wroxeter Roman City
  Barrie Eccleston (1929-2016) was an industrial designer and lecturer. He worked on excavations of Wroxeter for 12 summers between 1974 and 1986. This collection includes his full-scale section drawings and drawings of metalwork and glass, made for publication. (Reference: BXE01)

Contact us about a donation

If you have records which you think we might be interested in and would like to discuss this further please contact our Archive Services Team:  [email protected].