Using the Archives

Contacting the Archives

Visiting the Archives

Ordering copies and photographs

Contacting the Archives

If you have an enquiry about information we might hold, or know that you would like to consult items in our Archives, please contact us. Requests to visit should always be submitted in writing.

The Archives
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Richmond
Surrey TW9 3AE
UK

Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5417
Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5430
Email: archives@kew.org

Visiting the Archives

If you need to visit the Archives to consult original material, it is always essential to make an appointment in advance. We have very limited space for archives readers and can get booked up a few weeks in advance at busy times, such as university vacations.

The Archives can be consulted in the Main Library, at the enquiry desk, under the supervision of the Duty Librarian. Occasionally, readers will be accommodated in the Archives room, especially when consulting fragile material. Library, Art & Archives are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.  Documents which have been microfilmed will have to be consulted in this format; there is provision for the use of a laptop by the microfilm machine. See Visiting the Library for information about our location, and the conditions for visitors. When consulting archival material, please take notes in pencil only. Laptop computers can be used at both desks.

Ordering copies and photographs

We can provide copies of certain materials in the Archives according to copyright regulations. However, please note that our preservation policy is not to provide copies from bound archival volumes and we will assess each item individually. However, many documents have been microfilmed and we can therefore provide paper copies from the microfilm. Please see Photocopying and photography for more details.

If you request copies by post, we will send you a copyright form to complete and return before we make the copies. We will then send you an invoice for the costs of the copies. Upon receipt of payment, we will send you the copies. We accept cheques and credit cards in Pounds Sterling only.
We can take digital photographs of certain material, if suitable, for readers. Please note that these are done with a hand held camera, and are suitable for reference only; contact us for details of the costs. Readers can also take their own digital photographs on completion of the Self Service Declaration Form.

We can also arrange for our in-house Media Resources section to photograph items from the Archives. This is particularly applicable for items required for publication or which are too large for the Archives to photograph. Please contact us for details of costs.

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