Understand the archives | The National Archives

Search the website | Search the catalogue

Cookie policy |

MyPage (not signed in)

Search our website
Search our records

Start here

Discover how to get started with your research and how to use an archive.
Reading old documents

Use our interactive tutorials to decipher documents in old handwriting or Latin, and try out our historical currency converter.

Caring for your own records

Find out how to look after and preserve your own books, papers and photographs.
Citing documents in The National Archives

See our guidance on how to cite documents held at The National Archives in notes, publications and theses.

Video guides
- To view this film, you will require Adobe Flash 9 or higher and must have Javascript enabled.
  
  Preparing to research
  
  Find out where to look when you first start your research.
- View all videos

Features