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Denbighshire Record Office

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The Denbighshire Archives Service offers free access to a wealth of documents and records for north east Wales at the Ruthin Record Office. Archives, which are the heart of our recorded heritage, are collected, preserved and made available by helpful and knowledgeable staff.

Join the thousands who visit the Record Office at Ruthin Gaol each year to use the archives to research their family trees, the history of their houses, to find out about their town, village or street in the past, or make use of the many thousands of records for official or legal reasons.

At the County Record Office in Ruthin, we:

  • Help you get information directly from the documents in our care dating from the twelfth century to the present day.
  • Do paid research into the records on your behalf should you wish.
  • Collect records relating to Denbighshire from local authorities, parishes, chapels, families, individuals, businesses and institutions of all kinds for the use and benefit of future generations of researchers.
  • Collect and copy photographic records.
  • Preserve this heritage by conserving the archives and storing them in secure and specially equipped strong rooms.
  • Assist our users to search records (such as newspapers, census returns and parish registers) via microfilms or computers.
  • Prepare exhibitions on archives.
  • Give talks to societies and institutions.

People use archives for school or college work, serious research or as leisure interest. Use of the Record Office is free and open to anyone, from an experienced researcher to an absolute beginner. All you need is the time, the interest and the desire to find out more.

Archives appear in all sorts of shapes and sizes including maps and plans, registers, rolls, files and bundles and can be hand written or printed material and may be from official or personal archives.

Our website has details of many of the types of record available and includes an index of place names and subjects covered by our holdings.

Visit our website or telephone us to find out about our hours of opening and facilities for searching in the archives - you may need to book in advance!