Inside the Historic England Archive

Come and visit Historic England’s archive at the Engine House in Swindon! We are the public archive at Historic England, located in the Engine House, which was built in the 1840s and was formally the Great Western Railway’s Chief Mechanical Engineers and Drawing Office. We hold a public archive of architectural and archaeological records and hold over 15 million historic photographs, plans, drawings, reports, records and publications covering England's archaeology, architecture, social and local history.

Join us for a tour and you’ll have the chance to see inside to our environment-controlled Archive store, exploring our Historic office building, which forms part of the wider Swindon Heritage Action Zone and exclusive behind the scenes at the conservation laboratory, where you can discover how we care for and maintain our collections.

During your tour, you'll have the chance to ask your questions to our team of experts and learn more about the important work we do to preserve England’s historic environment.

Whether you're curious about history, passionate about archives, or simply looking for a fun and informative day out, we’d love to welcome you!

Timings

Saturday 19 September:

Tours: 1030-1145, 1200-1315, 1330-1445 & 1500-1615

Location & directions

The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN2 2EH

Directions:

Near the outlet centre and Bristol Street Tunnel, 10 minute walk from the Bus and Train station.

Contact on day:

Jade Balmer

Telephone number:

+447392127556

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:

Pre-booking required

Booking conditions:

There will be 4 tours running on the day, with an estimated duration of 1hr 15mins each. Bookings should be made on our Eventbrite page only. There might be walk-in spaces on the day, subject to availability. Please note that the tours will involve walking to different areas of the building on 2 floors.

Booking contact name:

Jade Balmer

Booking email:

[email protected]

Booking website:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/historic-england-archive-heritage-open-day-tours-2026-tickets-1990873997720?aff=oddtdtcreator

Booking opens:

14 Aug 2026 12:00 AM

Booking closes:

18 Sep 2026 12:00 AM

Accessibility details

If you need step free access and need to park on our site for accessibility needs, please contact Jade-India Balmer, [email protected]

Additional information

Max number of people:

10

Estimated duration:

1 hour(s) 15 minute(s)

Check out our online channels

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