This page will tell you about what to expect when you visit the Record Office, including some of our rules and how to use the Searchroom.

**Important information about parchment**

Due to a current problem with our air conditioning, we cannot guarantee to be able to produce parchment documents in the Searchroom. Special arrangements have been made to produce some items between 2.00pm - 4.00pm, Monday to Friday only. For more information, please call 01245 244640.

Arrival, signing in and refreshments

The Essex Record Office is in Wharf Road, Chelmsford.  The entrance to the Record Office is on the River Chelmer side of the building, so if you arrive by car or foot via Wharf Road, you will need to walk around the Record Office to the entrance.

The Reception is on the ground floor, directly to your right as you enter the building.  Please make yourself known to Reception upon your arrival.  If you do not have a reader’s ticket, the staff here can issue one, free of charge, providing you have the correct form of identification. More information about readers’ tickets can be found here.

On the ground floor you will also find vending machines for hot drinks, chocolate and crisps and a seating area for researchers.  You are most welcome to bring your own packed lunch to eat here, or there are plenty of cafes a short walk away in Chelmsford town centre. The toilets are located on the ground floor, just behind the seating area and next to the Essex Society for Family History’s Research Centre.

The Searchroom

The Searchroom is on the first floor and there are both stairs and a lift. Details of our facilities for people with disabilities can be found here.

Before you go into the Searchroom, please put all your bags, even handbags, away in a locker. You should also leave your coat, but please note that the Searchroom can sometimes be a little chilly, so bringing a sweater or cardigan is often a good idea. The locker room is to your left as you arrive on the first floor. 

Once your belongings are stowed safely, you should sign in and hand your reader's ticket to the member of staff.  There is a large sign explaining where to sign in. The staff member will then open the door to the Searchroom. 

Your reader’s ticket will be returned to you when you enter the Searchroom. You need to keep your reader’s ticket with you at all times, as you will be asked to show it to the staff when leaving and entering the Searchroom.

Just a few rules…

Our archives are unique and irreplaceable, and we are sure that you will understand that to protect them we have to ask visitors to the Searchroom to abide by certain rules.  None of our regulations are intended to discourage use of our collections, rather we want to preserve the items in our care so that they can continue to be seen by generations to come.  If you have any comments on this, please do not hesitate to speak to the archivist on duty or e mail us.

The following rules apply to users of the Searchroom

• Please leave all bags, including handbags, in a locker.  Both the locker room and the Searchroom have CCTV.  We have a supply of transparent wallets which can be borrowed from the Searchroom desk.  Please bring in as little as possible into the Searchroom. You may bring in your notes, but if they are stored in large folders we reserve the right to search these when you leave.
  
• Only pencils, never pens, are allowed in the Searchroom.
  
• You are most welcome to bring a laptop into the Searchroom, and each desk has power points for you to use, however we ask that you leave the laptop bag in a locker.
  
• Digital cameras may be used, but there are certain restrictions relating to this. Details can be found here. Handheld scanners may not be used in the Searchroom.  Don’t forget the Essex Record Office has a reprographics service and can copy documents for you. 
  
• You may not bring any food or drink into the Searchroom.  This includes bottled water and cough sweets.
  
  

Help with using the Searchroom

When you first visit the Searchroom, one of our archive assistants will help to show you how to start your research and where to find records.  There is also a Searchroom archivist on hand to assist with further advice.  Microfilm and microfiche resources such as copies of parish registers and census returns are self-service and the staff are happy to show you how to find and use these.  There are self-service reader-printers if you wish to make copies from the microfilm or microfiche.  You may wish to take a guided tour of the Searchroom, these take place monthly and details can be found in our events programme, which can be downloaded from this site.

If there is anything you do not understand, or if you cannot find what you are looking for, then please ask us.  We know that starting research can be a little daunting, so don’t feel shy. Staff at the Searchroom desk and the archivist on duty can help with questions and queries.

 

Seax and ordering documents

Our computerised catalogue Seax is available for you to search and order documents.  There may also be digital images of some documents on Seax which can be viewed on the computers.  The Searchroom computers have internet access to enable researchers to use sites to supplement their research.

When you have found some items you are interested in, you can order up to five documents at once.  The staff can show you how to use Seax to order documents, although there is help available on every page of Seax.

When your ordered documents are available your name will be displayed on the electronic display panels in the Searchroom and on the ground floor. Your document will be available from the Document Issue desk, to the side of the Searchroom desk.

You may only look at one original document at a time.  Each document is weighed before it is issued to you, and again on its return, to ensure no pages are mislaid and it is returned complete. You will be asked to surrender your ticket while you looking at the document; this is returned to you when you return the document. 

If you need to leave the Searchroom for just a short while, return the document to the Document Issue desk and explain that you have not finished with the document.  This will be kept for you and your ticket returned to allow you to leave the Searchroom.

The Library

The Essex Record Office has an extensive reference library of local history publications and books which can be used to assist with your research.  There are card indexes arranged by author, subject and place.  Our archive assistants will be able to show you where the card index is kept.