The National Archives

Interesting variety and super friendly staff. I didn’t put them to the test, but apparently you can ask to view a document and you should have it in 45 minutes! Neat building with a lovely curio shop.

Visited the Innovation exhibition. It's very informative and well displayed. Children will love ots origami section is really nice and was a great hit with both my granddaughters who were with me.This exhibition is free.

Gorgeous location with a pond, little garden with tables for lunch. Besides, there is a cafe and free museum to visit at the National Archives. The museum regularly changes the exhibition, so do plan to visit!

The two stars I've given are for the content which is held in the archive - for the systems to access it and for the attitude of the staff, I would give less.Having navigated the endless process to register online for a reader's ticket, I arrived, to be told at the ground floor desk that bags were not allowed (fine; I had none) and otherwise to go to the first floor. Which I did. On the first floor, I went to the entrance for the Document Room (which was where I had been informed previously that my booking was, to review the documents I had requested) where I was told that I had first to go to another desk, in order for my reader ticket to be created (who knew? There were no notices or directions anywhere from which this information could have been gleaned). Having done this, I returned to the entrance to the Document Room, where I was now told that outdoor coats were not allowed inside, and I would have to go back downstairs to leave my coat in a cloakroom - when I suggested that I could have been told this when I had first gone to the ground floor reception desk, the reply I got was that the staff at the two desks work for different organisations, and any idea that they might communicate in order to improve the customer experience was unthinkable. I went downstairs, and eventually I located a cloakroom, where I emptied my coat pockets of all the things I would need for my visit, to carry them instead by hand, and I presented myself again at the entrance to the Document Room. Finally - entrance was allowed! I and my colleague presented ourselves at the document retrieval desk, where it transpired that my documents were upstairs in the Map Room, whilst his, a related file, were in the Document Room. When we suggested that since both of the requested files were of interest to both of us it would be helpful if we could both look together at both files, we were told that this was impossible since all the other places at the table in the Document Room at which my colleague's place was reserved had been taken, there would be no space for me; in the event, I went with him anyway, and in the yawning and sparsely populated vastness of the document room we found that in fact all of the other places on his table were gloriously empty (like most of the rest of the room). And so, I could always have gone there, anyway.Having finished with that file, we returned it, and we made our way upstairs to the Map Room. At the entrance to which I was now told that I could not take my spectacle case into the Map Room; although, generously, I would be allowed to have my spectacles with me. Faced with the prospect of going all the way back to the ground floor cloakroom in order to deposit my spectacle case with my coat, I decided instead that dealing with the rules and the staff in this place is just more trouble than it's worth. And so, I left - before I could run into any more petty and arbitrary rules that nobody had thought it appropriate to flag in advance (What next? No footwear, maybe, or belts or any metal objects having to be removed?)The people who run this place have clearly lost the plot, and it seems to be run for the convenience of the staff over and above any considerations of utility for members of the public.From what I observed on my way past, the cafe and the bookshop look fun - maybe I should have stuck with those...

Great shop and excellent reference material. Attractive setting, parking free at weekend in streets nearby

The behind the scenes tour is excellent. The guide we had knew how to make everything interesting and the tour time well spent. Some of the artifacts they put out for us were especially interesting. Highly reccomend.

Visited just before the pandemic to speak at an event. Gorgeous exterior. The staff were brilliant with safety and security measures, and the space itself was suitable.

We visited the archives and did the behind the scene tour. Knowledgeable and friendly guide and nice place to relax.

We arrived to conduct a research of our family/ ancestors. Unfortunately, we went there for nothing as the man at the desk looked very annoyed when we asked for information and didn't help at all.We went to another room and luckily there was an old man who helped us a little directing us somewhere else.In the computers we didn't find anything helpful, you can definitely conduct a research from your home.The National Archives are near the Kew Gardens, nice if you want to spend a day in the area. You can take the district line from London: station is Kew Gardens, then 10mn walk.Also, VERY IMPORTANT: they don't have any death, marriage certificates!! If you are looking for those, you have to go to another website (see picture uploaded)

Very popular government building, with literally hundreds of guests visiting every day.Two parts to the building, good looking new section and a huge concrete structure. Out the front is a nice water feature with fountains and swans, and next to that is a grassy area with a large pond with ducks in.There is a big car park for those that want to drive but there is a charge and it is quite expensive, so take the R68 bus to Kew Retail Park or the tube/train to Kew Gardens station.There is a nice cafe inside and seating outside.Examples of famous items include Doomsday book, Shakespeare’s will and Magna Carta I believe amongst many millions of other documents.Press 'like' if my review is of benefit.