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London Metropolitan Archives

London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, Clerkenwell, EC1R 0HB, London, England

LMA holds archives about the administrative, social and family history of London. Over 72km of shelving store records of schools, churches, hospitals, businesses, local government and much more in the Greater London area stretching back over 900 years. Collections include documents, maps, plans, photographs and an extensive library collection relating to London History.

This library has a Designated Collection of national importance.

World War two bomb damage near Saint Paul's Cathedral. London Metropolitan Archives

Contact Details | Events | General Information

Facilities

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Contact Details

Tel : 020 7332 3820
Fax : 020 7833 9136
E-mail : ask.lma@cityoflondon.gov.uk

URL : www.lma.gov.uk
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/learn
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Open

Mon, Wed & Fri, 09.30 - 16.45 Tues & Thurs, 09.30 - 19.30 Sat 09.30 - 16.45, on the following dates for 2009 - 10 + 24 January, 14 + 28 February, 14 + 28 March, 25 April, 9 May, 13 + 27 June, 11 + 25 July, 8 + 22 August, 12 + 26 September, 10 + 24 October, 28 November, 12 December.

Closed

All bank holidays. 2 - 13 November 2009 - Annual Stocktaking.

Admission Charges

Free to visit and use. Free enquiry service about what records are held. Charges made for copying of archive material, and for the Family History Research Service.

General Information

Cultural collections description

London Metropolitan Archives’ holdings are increasingly coming to reflect the cosmopolitan nature of the capital itself. The wide variety of nationalities living in London has always been an intrinsic part of the core collections held at LMA relating to the government of London; the records of the top tier of London government, including the London County Council, Middlesex County Council and the Greater London Council include committee and subject files relating to ethnic minorities, and the GLC in particular had a very active Ethnic Minorities Committee, with sub-committees covering Ethnic Arts, Anti-Racist Programmes and the Irish Community.

LMA’s parish register holdings have always included references to worshippers of foreign extraction, and although these have hitherto been hidden from all but the dedicated researcher, those from the Black and Asian communities have started to be brought to light by LMA’s Black and Asian Londoners project. LMA has also been involved in The National Archives’ Moving Here project, which involved digitising archival sources which document the movement of members of the Caribbean, South Asian, Irish and Jewish communities to the capital from 1840 to the present day.

However, LMA also holds archive collections created by ethnic communities in their own right. The most important of these are the collections relating to the Anglo-Jewish Community; LMA holds the archives of many of the most influential bodies in Anglo-Jewry today as well as many smaller institutions and organisations which worked in specific areas of London.

Records of other faiths are also represented among LMA’s collections, including Sikhs, French Protestants, Lutherans and Huguenots.

LMA has begun to reach out to the major ethnic communities living in London in the 21st century and it is hoped that forging links in this way will help to encourage groups from those communities to consider depositing their records at LMA. London’s Caribbean community has been the first success story in this respect, and LMA is very proud to have taken in the archives of Eric and Jessica Huntley, prominent members of the community and tireless campaigners for the rights and issues of Black and Caribbean people in London.

View detailed collections record >

African | Asian | Asian: Chinese | Caribbean | Cross-cultural | North, West & Southern Europe: French | North, West & Southern Europe: German | Religious Group: Christian | Religious Group: Jewish

General Information

Brochure or leaflet available with directions to museum
Pre-booking service for groups
Guided tours

Collections

General guide to collections available
Object identification and/or written enquiry service
Object study facilities available (enquire in advance)
Public access available to collections information

Disability Access

Events/teaching/resources for people with disabilities
Induction loops in exhibition spaces
Induction loops in lecture theatres
Large print information and/or interpretation
Parking for disabled available
Toilets for disabled
Touch exhibits and/or handling sessions
Wheelchair access to all public areas

Children and Families

Baby changing facilities
Events and resources for children and families

General Education

Adult lectures and courses held
Education facilities available
Member of staff available with responsibility for education
Reception and lunch facilities for educational groups
Teaching/resources available for HE/FE students

Schools Education

Direct teaching services for schools
Primary school education service available
Secondary school education service available

Facilities

Facilities for private functions and events
Library
Library with public access
Meeting room available
Object study facilities available (enquire in advance)
Refreshments
Research facilities for academics
Shop
Study facilities

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