Bromley Historic Collections

Bromley Historic Collections is the combined Archives, Local Studies Library, and Museum services for the London Borough of Bromley. We collect, preserve and make accessible the historic record of the Borough, its communities, institutions and people, as well as published local history resources and objects of local and historic importance.

Absolutely! Topics we can investigate can be, but are not limited to:

Please call 020 3931 0907, email Historic.collections@gll.org or visit during our available hours. Enquiries for this kind of information often require much investigation, so we may not be able to answer immediately. 

If you would like to donate a historical object that you own to the collection, please call 020 3931 0907 or email Historic.collections@gll.org and give us additional information. 

While we believe everything has historical value, please be aware we may not be able to take certain objects.

Many of our collections can only be photographed after purchasing a license for £5. This license gives you free reign to photograph as much of our content, within reason, that you desire.
Some of our photographs can be conventionally photocopied for the typical library price, at 10p per black & white A4, and 25p for colour A4 (doubled for A3 copies). 

For more information on how we disambiguate these categories, please contact us.

Access to archival material (found here) is by appointment only. Appointments are available on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with at least 7 workings days notice. Please email historic.collections@gll.org

In Bromley Historic Collections, we have copies of electoral registers, street directories, and telephone directories spanning decades. 

Please note, due to changes in the law circa 2003, our collections of electoral registers are limited to releasing only 10 years after their initial collection date. As such, electoral registers from any less than 10 years ago are unavailable. Electoral registers between 2003 and 10 years ago are accessible via appointment only, and have strict pre-requisites involved in their viewing. Contact us for more information on viewing electoral registers.

Our Museum and Archive Collections can be searched here and our Local Studies Collection can be searched here. Please note that viewing of archive and museum material is by appointment only. 

Yes, we pride ourselves on having a broad collection of postcards featuring historic images of the borough in its infancy. 

We also sell Bromley Historic Collections themed mugs. 

If you have a microfiche/microfilm roll, but not the device to read it, you're in luck! At Bromley Historic Collections, we have several devices where you will be able to read your rolls free of charge. If you are looking to make digital copies of your rolls, please be aware that you must provide your own USB-compatible storage device (i.e. a memory stick), as the device is not connected to the internet.

If you are unsure how to use the device, please contact staff for more information.

Yes! Much of our archived newspapers are available on microfilm rolls. These can be read on our microfilm reader. If you don't know how to use this device, local staff are more than happy to help you. If you have any questions about the hardware or the process, don't hesitate to call or email us. 

Our collection of historical OS maps covers a substantial portion of the borough over the past century. Contact us for more details.