Where can I park when I visit the Record Office?
Bury St Edmunds: there is free parking opposite the office at Shire
Hall (c 500 yards walk); there is also a pay and display car park
alongside the office.
Ipswich: there is ample free parking alongside the office.
Lowestoft: there is a pay and display multi-storey car park in the
Britten Centre alongside the office and a shoppers car park
opposite the library.
Do I need to make a reservation to use the Record Office?
There is no need to book to look at original documents at any of
the offices although if you are coming from a distance it might be
useful to ring in advance to make sure that the documents you want
to consult are available.
If you want to look at documents on microfilm or microfiche you
will need to book a reader. Readers can be booked for a half-day
(09.00- 13.00/13.00-17.00) or a full day,
by letter, email or phone.
What facilities are there for the disabled?
All three record offices have fully accessible toilets. They also
have induction loops on the main enquiry desk. Each record office
has a motorised film reader. On at least one public Internet
machine in each record office there is a large key
keyboard.
Bury St Edmunds: there are 2 disabled spaces near the disabled
entrance to the side of the building.
Ipswich: there is one disabled parking space.
Lowestoft: there are no parking spaces near the Record
Office.
Do you accept CARN (County Archive Research Network)
tickets?
We are part of the County Archives Research Network and CARN
reader’s tickets are needed to look at original documents in the
three offices. You can use one issued by another Record Office; if
you do not have one we can issue one on your first visit. You will
need to provide proof of identity,please see
our
County Archive Research leaflet.
Do you issue birth and death certificates?
No; we hold registers of baptisms and burials, rather than births
and deaths. Registrars issue certificates these can be requested
from
the
Suffolk Register Office.
Our leaflet
Parish Registers, Civil Registration and the Family Historian
explains the different ways you can research your family
history.
Our page detailing websites for the family historian lists lots of
useful contact details.
We also run
workshops in all three record offices to help and support
research.
How do I start researching the history of my family?
Our leaflet
Beginning your family history gives help on starting your
research.
We also run
workshops in all three record offices to help and support
research.
How do I start researching the history of my house?
Our leaflet
Tracing Property History will help you to get started on your
research.
We also run
workshops in all three record offices to help and support
research.