West Sussex Record Office

22/06/2026

One week ago we held our first Community Heritage Conference. The day consisted of an introduction given by our County Archivist, a document display, speakers from local history societies, round table discussions and then wrapping up with a feedback session. Thank you to everyone who attended! Some exciting ideas were discussed and we look forward to seeing how this will grow and develop in the future.

21/06/2026

🌞 Today is the summer solstice! Our summers can be unpredictable but hopefully warmer beach days are ahead of us, just like this scene of Ferring Beach from the early 20th century

19/06/2026

📖 Something medieval for you today! This is an intricately decorated and illuminated Breviary from c1320. Breviaries are liturgical books containing prayers, psalms, scripture and hymns. These were primarily used by clergy, nuns and monks.

16/06/2026

✉️ To mark Sussex Day this year, we are launching our new newsletter! Every quarter we’ll be sharing news on forthcoming talks and workshops, publications, online historical resources, research guides, blog articles, collections recently catalogued or digitised, and service announcements. Sign up here: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKWSCC/subscriber/new?topic_id=UKWSCC_1193

12/06/2026

📸 Our L'Alouette photographic collection has now been digitised and over 500 images are available to download for £5 each! Frank L'Alouette was an official war photographer during WWII and his photographs show real-life experiences of war in Bognor Regis.
To find them on our catalogue, search for 'L'Alouette' and filter to 'Images only'

11/06/2026

📣 New blog post alert! Within our Episcopal Records, the miscellaneous court papers (MCPs) are a set of documents that have remained largely unknown to us due to their poor condition. However, conservation projects have enabled WSRO cataloguing volunteers to read them and discover the stories of ordinary West Sussex people from the 1550s to the 1850s.

By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist, in collaboration with Jennifer Mason, Senior Archivist (Collections Manager), and Linda and Catherine, WSRO cataloguing volunteers Within our Episcopal Reco…

10/06/2026

🌈 So much colour can be within the Shippam's collection! Just look at how vibrant this price list from March 1966 is!

08/06/2026

🗺️ Something a bit different for today! Here we have a map and sections that illustrate the geology of the South East part of England from c1825

05/06/2026

🚨 All of our America 250 events have now SOLD OUT
Thank you to everyone who purchased a token. We look forward to hosting you all soon! But if you missed out, keep your eyes peeled for future events

04/06/2026

📣 New blog post alert! As we continue to celebrate Volunteers' Week, the archivist who coordinates this has written all about what they've been up to over the past year.

By Nick Corbo-Stewart, Volunteer Coordinator & Archivist In the week that celebrates and recognises the contributions of volunteers around the country, we at the West Sussex Record Office (WSRO…