Lancashire Archives and Local History

05/09/2026

👇📜NEWS FROM THE ARCHIVES!📜👇 The latest edition of our monthly newsletter is out now. Follow the link to find out more about the Archives, events and new collections: https://sway.cloud.microsoft/9BsZx1O4oNM6ZS60?ref=email

And with another month, another map! You may well have seen this before but it is a worth another showing! This one is: 'A Mapp of Ye County Palatine of Lancaster with its Hundreds' by Richard Blome from the 1670s.

https://lancashire.epexio.com/records/DDX2365/2

You can sign up to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox by emailing us at [email protected]

05/09/2026

05/09/2026

Come and join us at the Mourholme Local History weekend at Leighton Hall. One of our lovely volunteers was first in! Lots of local history stalls in an impressive venue! The Friends of Lancashire Archives will be there Sunday with information about joining and the 40th anniversary programme of events.

04/09/2026

Colleagues next door to our sound room might have been a little confused at the noises coming from within last week… we were busy testing out our new (old) Struder A807 reel-to-reel machine!

We use pre-recorded magnetic tapes that feature precise standard tones that we can use to test, adjust and align the analog tape recorders so we’ll get digital copies that are as accurate as possible to the original.

Working with old and occasionally temperamental equipment means it’s great to have a second machine so we can digitise more at once and also have a backup should anything want to drop out on us!

04/09/2026

👉Information Notice👈

Lancashire Archives: Car Park Closure

From Monday 7 September the car park at Lancashire Archives will be closed. This is due to preparation work for essential building maintenance on the Archives premises. To keep everyone safe, there will be no vehicle access during this time and the car park will remain closed until further notice.

We appreciate that this is inconvenient for some visitors and we thank you for your patience. Please plan ahead for your visit and use local alternatives.

There are nearby parking options at:

Park and ride - Lancashire County Council - https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-travel/public-transport/park-and-ride/

Car Park & Parking in Preston Centre - Fishergate - https://www.shopfishergate.co.uk/parking-preston/

Preston Railway Station Parking - Avanti West Coast - https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/travel-information/plan-your-journey/parking/preston-railway-station-parking

Normal opening times and access arrangements for collections and services remain in place.

If you need to deposit records and will be travelling by car, please contact us in advance to discuss arrangements.

Image: Alex Barker

04/09/2026

This week in 1666 the Great Fire of London was blazing through the city’s streets. We have a few letters in our collections that give a glimpse into the destructive event and one of them is from 2 months later in November from William Jessop writing to his daughter Anne.

William was a clerk based at London’s Grays Inn area and he writes ‘I bless God for my safe coming to London last night, my journey concluded almost with my passage through the ruines of poore London where I saw the smoke yet contynewinge in divers cellars and in one cleare burning fire. I find sad feares here…’

William wrote many other insightful letters covering events of the period such as the plague, treatments to manage ailments, political activities and the education of his grandchildren. William’s daughter married into the Hulton family, and so these letters have luckily survived amongst other Hulton family and estate items.

Doc Ref: DDHU/3/4/3/19

03/09/2026

Our conservation and engagement teams have recently be working together to assess our list of archive ‘treasures’…

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to come on a behind the scenes tour you’re very likely to have seen some of these, so we’re excited to refresh the list of items and bring some new favourites to you in the coming months, watch this space!

22/08/2026

20/08/2026

Here's a cheerful fellow to welcome in a Thursday from our irregular series of things-we-see-when-walking-through-the-searchroom... a lovely little detail from a very long account roll...

19/08/2026

With the Tour of Britain women's cycling race coming to Lancashire for the first time this Thursday we thought we'd share a few items from the collections that document the fascinating history of women's cycling.

With the mass market production of bicycles, cycling played a part in women’s liberation, as a viable form of transport that allowed for mobility, independence and the freedom to move around without being accompanied. The Clarion Cycling Clubs in many parts of Lancashire were open to men and women and tell the story of the part cycling played in campaigning for equality.

The Archives holds some fascinating records for the North Lancashire Union and the Nelson Clarion Cycling Club: https://archivecat.lancashire.gov.uk/records/DDX1470

Images show:
Ermyntrude Frances De Trafford (of Croston Hall), around 1910, Red Rose Collections, SCH20130219006
Nelson Clarion Cycling Club, c. 1940, Red Rose Collections, ENE-N01-W615-4-1

Spring Hill Cycling Club Members, Accrington, c. 1900,
HAC-H01-W615-3356-1