Suffolk Archives manage the historical archives for the county of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. These archives include a wide range of historical council and parish records, plus various commercial records, local historic book collections, local historic newspapers and various personal items. They are accessible to view at three locations: The Hold

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

; Lowestoft Library,

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

and

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

. The Hold opened in September 2020 and also hosts various exhibitions, town walks and lectures. This service is run by Suffolk County Council.

Suffolk Archives Ipswich Branch

Formerly the Ipswich and East Suffolk Record Office, the archives were held in the former Bramford Road School in Gateacre Road.

Relocation to The Hold

In 2014 Suffolk County Council and the

University of Suffolk The University of Suffolk is a public university situated in Suffolk and Norfolk, England. The modern university was established in 2007 as University Campus Suffolk (UCS), the institution was founded as a unique collaboration between the Univer ...

started working on plans for a collaborative project to create a new premises for a

heritage centre A heritage centre, center, or museum is a public facility – typically a museum, monument, visitor centre, or park – that is primarily dedicated to the presentation of historical and cultural information about a place and its people, and often ...

close to the University of Suffolk campus on

Ipswich Waterfront The Ipswich Waterfront is a cultural and historically significant area surrounding the marina in the town of Ipswich, Suffolk. The modern dock was constructed in 1842 and the area was a functioning dock up until the 1970s. At the time of comple ...

. By 2018 they had finalised their plans for The Hold, a new purpose built building that would also house a 200 seat auditorium, which would also be used by the university. The plans catered for expected growth of the archive for the next twenty years. the facility was opened in October 2020.

Lowestoft Branch of Suffolk Archives

The Lowestoft Branch of Suffolk Archives is based in Lowestoft Central Library. Following the opening of The Hold, lorry loads of material was removed from the Lowestoft Record Office to be relocated in

. Local heritage campaigners set up "Save our Record Office", who campaigned unsuccessfully against the move, which occurred from 19–27 April 2021.

Bury St Edmunds Branch

The Branch was originally established as the Bury St Edmunds Record Office in 1938. From 1950 to 1974 it was known as the Bury St Edmunds and west Suffolk Record Office, servings as a

County Record Office In the United Kingdom (and particularly in England and Wales) the term county record office usually refers to a local authority repository, also called a county archives. Such repositories employ specialist staff to administer and conserve the h ...

for

West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...

. However following the amalgamation of that county with East Suffolk, it became the Bury St Edmunds Branch of the Suffolk Record Office.

References

Ipswich Archives in Suffolk History of Suffolk County record offices in England {{library-struct-stub