Records and archives

The collections include records of local government from the sixteenth century, the Diocese of Chichester and its parishes and those of businesses, families, estates, societies and schools. It also holds records of West Sussex hospitals, the West Sussex Constabulary and The Royal Sussex Regiment. Please see the 'West Sussex County Council - Record Office' web page for more information.

You can also visit our local history, archaeology and heritage web pages. Our museum holds photos dating from the 1860s to the present. These images cover district events, individuals and businesses. The museum also has a large collection of events programmes, posters and flyers. It has a number of directories, useful for tracing the history of buildings in the city and surrounding area. 

In addition, the Wikipedia website is a useful source of information regarding the history, culture and geography of Chichester.

If you would like to take steps to research your family history, please visit the BBC website for information on how to do this. The Curious Fox website provides details on family history, genealogy, surnames and local history for Sussex.

The National Archives website provides 1,000 years of government information, including wills and public records. Here, you can view the 'catalogue', a database containing document descriptions from central government, courts of law and other UK national bodies. These include records on family history, medieval tax, criminal trials, UFO sightings, the history of countries and many other subjects.