Lancashire Archives and Local History

12/06/2026

'My Voice' exhibition, open now at Lancashire Archives & Local History

The My Voice Project records and publishes the whole stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees - the exhibition shares the stories of survivors from the North West of England from before, during and after World War II, detailing their struggles to survive, and rebuild their lives in the UK.

The My Voice team have worked alongside trained volunteers to carefully preserve the stories, which you can now see on display at Lancashire Archives & Local History, Bow Lane, Preston, PR1 2RE during our normal opening hours.

https://www6.apps.lancashire.gov.uk/w/webpage/event-details?eventid=3170057

For more information about Lancashire Archives visit: www.lancashire.gov.uk/archives

12/06/2026

😀👉Look out for all the Lancaster Day events and activities led by our friends Lancaster City Museums - we'll be taking along the first town charter that is in the care of the Archives and the local history space is open for visitors in Lancaster Library to take a look at some of the collections held there! Lancashire Libraries

11/06/2026

🎊🎉Earlier this week we celebrated National Volunteers Week 2026 with a well deserved buffet lunch for our wonderful volunteers 👏👏.

We wanted to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers - those who came along and those who couldn't make it on the day - who work with us at Lancashire Archives and Local History on dozens of different projects our volunteers and support every aspect of delivering our service.

In the last year our volunteers gave an amazing 9000 hours of their time to listing, cataloguing, indexing, cleaning, repackaging, researching and more! We worked with the wonderful volunteers from the Preston Branch of the Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society, and all the volunteers who support the work of the Friends of Lancashire Archives.

Thank you everyone and we look forward to more of the same in the year ahead!

09/06/2026

🎉🎊📜📚Today is International Archives Day! 🎉🎊📜📚 Our archives service is 86 years young and over the course of our history a huge amount has changed in how we manage collections and provide access to them, and we couldn't be prouder of everything Lancashire Archives and Local History, researchers, volunteers and staff, past and present, have done to celebrate the county's heritage.

Archives today are places where collections are preserved for the present and the future, they're places where people share stories, find out about themselves and their communities, get involved in preserving history, learn new skills and have fun!

Everyone is welcome at the Archives and we want collections in our care to tell the stories of every place and community in Lancashire. Whether you're visiting our main home at Bow Lane, or using local history collections in Lancashire Libraries, there is so much to discover!

To find our more, have a look on our website, or a browse through our new online catalogue, get involved as a volunteer, follow us online or pop in as a researcher and see what what can find!

https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/archives
https://archivecat.lancashire.gov.uk/

08/06/2026

👉FRIENDS AT 40! Free talk for all!👈

Look out for this brilliant new event as part of the anniversary programme for the Friends of Lancashire Archives!

📍The work of Garter King of Arms – Free Talk for All - July 7, 2026, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM at Stocks Massey Music Library, Burnley Central Library, BB11 2BD

For bookings and more information: https://www.flarchives.co.uk/events/event/the-work-of-garter-king-of-arms

Join us for a free talk by Sir Thomas Woodcock about his life and career as a herald at the College of Arms, where he was Garter Principal King of Arms from 2010-21.
Sir Thomas was born in Preston, where his family have been Burgesses recorded on the Guild rolls since 1622. The Woodcock family were longstanding solicitors in Haslingden and Bury, and their papers are now at Lancashire Archives. He has been a vice president of the Friends of Lancashire Archives for several years and is a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire.
The College of Arms is the heraldic authority for England Wales and Northern Ireland, responsible for maintaining genealogical and heraldic records. The heralds are part of the Royal Household and take ceremonial roles on state occasions.
Sir Thomas began his career as a herald in 1975 and worked his way up to the top job at the College of Arms. In that role he could be seen at the late Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral reading out his titles and honours. He is a genealogist and has written several books on heraldry. And naturally has a coat of arms himself.
The venue is the newly restored and refurbished Stocks Massey Music Library, a beautiful art deco space housing a collection of sheet music and musical instruments. The room is accessible by lift. The talk will last about an hour, followed by refreshments by Café Archive, serving coffee or tea and homemade cake for £3.50.

Burnley Library is on Grimshaw Street, close to the town centre and bus station. Burnley Manchester Road railway station is a 10 minute walk away. There is a large pay and display car park with disabled parking – William Thompson car park – opposite the library on Red Lion Street, BB11 2AE.
Where possible we will arrange car-sharing from Lancashire Archives in Bow Lane, Preston. Please indicate on the booking form if you would welcome a lift, or if you can provide space in your own vehicle for others.



visit Lancashire

08/06/2026

Our monthly Saturday opening is...this Saturday, 13 June.

And a reminder that though our modern collecting focuses on administrative Lancashire as it is today, our historic collections relate to much of the ancient county palatine. This is particularly the case for large collections that reach across current regional boundaries, but also for records acquired in the earlier years of Lancashire Records Office, prior to 1974.

This lovely set of drawings is part of our collection of records purchased by the service over the years, many of which were supported by the Friends of Lancashire Archives

We don't know much about the sketches, so would love to know more if anyone wants a research challenge to get stuck into!
Images show scenes of Liverpool, Southport, Poulton and Caton, dated 1844 and 1854: https://archivecat.lancashire.gov.uk/records/DX/1934

Why not book in and see what you can find?

Booking information for research visits is at the link - or pop in and if we can we'll get records out for you on the day: https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/libraries-and-archives/archives-and-record-office/visit-us/

Or take a look at our new online catalogue at: https://archivecat.lancashire.gov.uk/

07/06/2026

This week is national volunteers week. Our Local history volunteers have been hard at work on various tasks including indexing documents; newspapers and periodicals, as well as using the collections to conduct research. One of these projects culminated in a piece on Early Pagan Crosses and Christian Markers in Lancashire written by volunteer Lindsay Wright, which you can read at our blog here:

https://redrosecollectionsnews.wordpress.com/2025/06/16/early-pagan-crosses-and-christian-markers-in-lancashire/

Image of Halton Cross taken from ‘The Danes in Lancashire’ by SW Partington, 1909. Available in Lancashire Printed Collection.

Written by Lindsay Wright. In order to make a study of early Christian and pagan markers within the boundaries of Lancashire it is necessary to delve into the background of early Lancashire.  …

06/06/2026

Looking for a good read? Look no further than the new edition of our Lancashire history magazine, Archives!

Our local history magazine celebrates the rich and diverse history of Lancashire. It is full of stories about the people, places and events that shaped the county.

The magazine is on sale at Lancashire Archives and all Lancashire Libraries priced at £3. Please contact Lancashire Archives for postal orders of the magazine, email us at [email protected] or call 01772 533039.

Our eighth issue of Archives jumps into another year of anniversaries for the Archives, as we celebrate 40 years of the Friends of Lancashire Archives, our amazing supporters’ group who since 1986 have raised over £400,000 for projects at the Archives.

This edition brings our usual wide range of themes and historical periods. Bernard Melling looks at the contemporary view of the county asylum at Lancaster Moor, and Keith Vernon examines the story behind the building of the Avenham Institute in Preston.

Two remarkable lives are shared, by Jill Liddington recounting her research into the Nelson suffragist and campaigner, Selina Cooper, and by Shaun Corkerry who gives us an insight into the inventions of John Kitchen of Lancaster.

We’re pleased to share an update on the project to commemorate the 1826 Weavers’ Uprising in Pennine Lancashire and Janet Rigby brings us further stories from Lancashire’s inland waterways.



Blog Preston visit Lancashire Lancashire Libraries Lancashire Museums Lancashire County Council

05/06/2026

Lancashire Archives are off to Garstang Library!😃📚📍Saturday 6th June 10.30am-12pm - Lancashire LGBTQ+ Archives Talk 📍

Come along for a talk delivered by Lancashire Archives on our county's LGBTQ+ history. Be inspired by stories of local LGBTQ+ individuals such as Isaac Hitchen, and find out more about the range of archival collections available. Everyone is welcome to come along. Please book your space online or in branch - or just come along on the day!
https://www6.apps.lancashire.gov.uk/w/webpage/view-event?webpage_token=fa8bf8bc5acf82a501e1fa1711bd07c4c6ef86c6a9b91154c4cae0a8566e0956&auth=OGJiMjEzNjQ2ZTg5&id=3498493

Image from the records of the Lancaster Gay Switchboard, DDX/3729 https://archivecat.lancashire.gov.uk/records/DDX3729