Churchill Archives Centre

The Churchill Archives Centre was purpose-built in 1973 to house Sir Winston Churchill's Papers - some 3000 boxes of letters and documents ranging from his first childhood letters, via his great war-time speeches, to the writings which earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature. They form an incomparable documentary treasure trove.

The Churchill Papers served as the inspiration and the starting-point for a larger endeavour - the creation of a wide-ranging archive of the Churchill era and after, covering those fields of public life in which Sir Winston played a personal role or took a personal interest. Today it holds the papers of some 570 important figures and the number is still increasing.

The Archives Centre is situated within the grounds of Churchill College, itself the National and Commonwealth Memorial to Sir Winston. It includes air-conditioned reading rooms, a strong room with elaborate security systems, and a sophisticated conservation laboratory and a sorting room in which raw history is put into boxes.

A recent acquisition of major significance is the collection of Lady Thatcher's personal and political papers. Thus the Churchill Archives Centre is the British equivalent of not one but two of the great American presidential libraries - a unique distinction.

The entire collection of this Archives Centre is a Designated Collection of national importance.

Additional info

Open to the public by appointment only.