West Sussex Record Office
What's on at the Record Office
Find out about events coming up at the Record Office.
Tell me moreWe hold regular evening talks on Tuesdays and family history workshops on the first Wednesday of each month.
About our events
Talks on Tuesday
'Talks on Tuesday' cover a wide range of fascinating subjects presented by our experts. All talks start at 7.00pm and last 1 to 2 hours, including refreshments.
For on-site talks, tickets cost £8.00 (non-refundable) per person and must be booked in advance from the Record Office. Online talks are either £5.00 per person or free of charge.
See below for our current scheduled talks and ticket prices.
Coffee Time Workshops
Do you want to research your family tree but don’t know where to start? Would you like to research the history of your house or learn how to read old handwriting? If so, sign up for our coffee time workshops.
On the first Wednesday of each month, our special mid-morning sessions, which usually run for 1-2 hours, will give you the opportunity to learn from the experts in a relaxed atmosphere.
We will introduce you to the incredible range of archive material available at the Record Office - dating from 780 AD to the present day - and how best to use the sources for research.
At West Sussex Record Office you can be assured of a warm welcome from our friendly and knowledgeable staff. We hope you will join us, whether it's for one session or all of them!
See below for our current scheduled workshops.
Special events
From open days to exhibitions, you will find details of any special events we are hosting below.
Talks on Tuesday
What did the Victorians do for Chichester?
Visually Chichester did not alter substantially under the Victorians so its character remained – and remains to this day - essentially Georgian.
In this illustrated talk Alan Green explores the Victorian era in Chichester including the coming of the railway, new buildings and the provision of the cattle market, as well as significant happenings such as the collapse of the cathedral spire in 1861 and the sorry saga of why, despite regular cholera outbreaks, a sewerage system was not to be installed until 1892.
Along the way the movers and shakers of the day will be met.
The talk will last up to an hour, with an opportunity to ask questions (via the chat box for our remote audience).
Venue: West Sussex Record Office, 3 Orchard Street, Chichester, PO19 1DD
Date: Tuesday 30 April 2024
Time: 7.00pm
Tickets: £8.00 (attending in-person), £7.00 for West Sussex Archives Society members, £5.00 (attending remotely via Zoom).
Booking: To attend in person, please phone 01243 753602 to book and pay. To attend online, please book via Eventbrite.
Returning to the moon - Sir Patrick Moore’s legacy
An illustrated talk by Dr John Mason, Principal Lecturer at the South Downs Planetarium in Chichester and friend of Sir Patrick Moore for over 40 years. This highly personal talk will look at the legacy of Sir Patrick's work, the advent of the BBC's Sky at Night and the moon landings, as well as the future of further moon exploration.
Venue: West Sussex Record Office, 3 Orchard Street, Chichester, PO19 1DD
Date: Tuesday 28 May 2024
Time: 7.00pm
Tickets: £8.00 including refreshments, £7.00 for West Sussex Archives Society members
Booking: Please phone 01243 753602 to book and pay by debit/credit card.
Tales of a Sussex family farm
Join us for a fascinating insight into Sussex farm life 1949-1997.
Angela Lerwill was born and bred in West Sussex. She was raised on a small mixed farm near Wisborough Green. After this, she attended Harper Adams University prior to setting up her own market research business. She now lives in the Cotswolds.
Angela’s book ‘Tales of a Sussex Family Farm’ is one of her Covid-19 projects. It aims to describe the Lerwill’s family and working life while they lived at Frithwood Farm, warts and all. Graham Harvey, former Agricultural Story Editor of the Archers, describes it as ‘...funny, sad and inspirational.’
The talk will last up to an hour, with an opportunity to ask questions (via the chat box for our remote audience).
Venue: West Sussex Record Office, 3 Orchard Street, Chichester, PO19 1DD
Date: Tuesday 24 September 2024
Time: 7.00pm
Tickets: £8.00 (attending in-person), £7.00 for West Sussex Archives Society members, £5.00 (attending remotely via Zoom)
Booking: To attend in person, please phone 01243 753602 to book and pay. To attend online, please book via Eventbrite.
Coffee time workshops
How to start your family tree
If you are thinking about researching your family history but aren't sure where to start, this two-hour workshop will provide some helpful tips and advice, based on the resources available in the Record Office, local libraries and online.
Date: Wednesday 6 March 2024
Time: 10.00am
Tickets: £7.50 (non-refundable) - book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Getting started with Ancestry.co.uk
This workshop will incorporate a practical, hands-on computer session, giving you the chance to try out this popular website under our guidance.
Date: Wednesday 3 April 2024
Time: 10.00am
Tickets: £7.50 (non-refundable) - book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Reading old handwriting
Date: Wednesday 5 June 2024
Time: 10.00am
Tickets: £7.50 (non-refundable) - book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Getting started with Ancestry.co.uk
This workshop will incorporate a practical, hands-on computer session, giving you the chance to try out this popular website under our guidance.
Date: Wednesday 4 September 2024
Time: 10.00am
Tickets: £7.50 (non-refundable) - book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Researching the history of your house
Date: Wednesday 2 October 2024
Time: 10.00am
Tickets: £7.50 (non-refundable) - book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Special events
Creating Crawley: Successive transformations of Crawley from the Romans to the new town
Join Holly Parsons, Curator of Crawley Museum, and Alice Millard, New Jerusalems Project Archivist at West Sussex Record Office, for this joint talk which explores Crawley’s history through three ‘new town’ eras.
Holly’s talk will start in the iron age and the three villages of Crawley, Ifield and Worth. The medieval market making Crawley’s first new town. Onwards to the Georgians and Victorians with the coming of the coaches and railway for Crawley’s second new town and up to the announcement of Crawley becoming a new town in 1947.
Following this, Alice’s talk will explore the history of the town after its official designation as a new town in 1947 using documents from the Crawley new town archive held by West Sussex Record Office. From the creation of modern housing and Manor Royal to the Development Corporation’s obsession with sewerage systems, you’ll learn more about this pioneering period of local history.
After the talk, visitors are welcome to stay on at Crawley Library or drop by between 2.00pm to 4.00pm to view a selection of objects from Crawley Museum, and examples of documents from the Crawley new town archive from West Sussex Record Office. There’ll also be an opportunity to offer your local expertise and help Alice identify some mystery photos!
Alice is the project archivist cataloguing the Crawley new town archive, as part of a Wellcome Trust funded project called The New Jersusalems. Find out more about the project on their website.
Venue: Crawley Library, Southgate Avenue, RH10 6HG
Date: Tuesday 5 March 2024
Time: 1.00pm to 2.00pm
Tickets: Free
Booking: Tickets for the talk must be booked in advance - please book via Eventbrite. The drop-in session (2.00pm to 4.00pm) afterwards is not ticketed.
Record Office friends
A regular programme of events is also organised by the West Sussex Archives Society. For more information, visit their website.
Contact details
- Email record.office@westsussex.gov.uk
- Tel: 01243 753602
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Address
3 Orchard Street, Chichester, PO19 1DD -
Additional information
Our address for correspondence is: County Archivist, West Sussex Record Office, County Hall, Chichester, PO19 1RN
Find us
By car
We are based in the heart of Chichester, very near to County Hall. The A27 trunk road runs through Chichester for links to Brighton and Portsmouth, while links to London are provided by the A23 and A24. Chichester is approached from the north via the A286 from Midhurst; and the A285 from Petworth.
By train
We are about a 10 minute walk from Chichester train station, which is served by a regular train service from London Victoria. There are also services from Brighton and Portsmouth.
By bus
The closest bus stops are at Orchard Street, West Street (Cathedral) and Avenue de Chartres.