Introduction 

West Sussex Record Office looks after the archival heritage of the County and is responsible for collecting, preserving and providing access to over 1,200 years of historical records. Amongst its vast and diverse collections, stored on more than 8 miles of shelving, are the records of West Sussex County Council, the district and parish councils, the Diocese of Chichester and its parishes, The Royal Sussex Regiment, and many local organisations, businesses, individuals and families. Our collections continue to grow each year as more and more archives are discovered and brought into the Record Office.

All of these records are accessible free of charge in the Record Office Search Room, where people are able to research their family history, learn about the history of their house or local area, investigate an historical topic or legal issue, or study for a school, college or university project. The Record Office has an active programme to promote the County’s history to local communities through talks, tours, workshops and events, giving residents the opportunity to learn more about the rich history of West Sussex and the people and organisations that have made the County special. The Record Office also provides a service to schools with bespoke sessions in the Search Room, workshops delivered in local schools, as well as online resource packs to use in the classroom and for use by home educators.

There is a growing demand for remote access to the archives and we are looking at ways in which we can provide more online resources and services. Many of our talks are now livestreamed so that people can participate in person at the Record Office or online with content subsequently added to our West Sussex Record Office YouTube Channel (opens in new tab.) Our parish registers, electoral registers, wills and other probate records have recently been digitised and made available through Ancestry. We are also developing a new Record Office website, to be launched later this year, which will enable us to make more digital content available to audiences online.

You can find out more about the Record Office on our website at West Sussex Record Office - West Sussex County Council (opens in new tab.)

Why we are consulting

We have been monitoring customer usage of the Record Office services both before and after the pandemic. Analysis shows that there has been a decline in visits to the Search Room, whilst there has been an increase in the demand for virtual access to online resources. Far fewer people visit the Record Office on Saturdays than during the week. The use of the Search Room on Saturdays was declining before the pandemic but this decrease in usage has become more marked over the last two years.

We have therefore been carrying out a review of our opening hours to enable us to re-balance our resources, to ensure continued support for customers who want to visit the Search Room in person, whilst also supporting the growing demand for virtual access.

We would like to make more staff time available to support work that will benefit all of our users as well as making more of our collections accessible for everyone to use.

What would change

The Search Room is currently open during the week Tuesday-Friday 9.15am-4.45pm and on Saturday 9.15am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-4.30pm (36.25 hours in total). The Search Room is open on Mondays for group and school visits by appointment.

It is proposed that the opening hours will change so that the Search Room is no longer open on a Saturday.

No longer opening on Saturdays would enable more staff time to be spent on other tasks during the week.

We are asking for your views about this proposal including what additional work you think we should prioritise.

How to take part

This consultation will run from Monday 22nd January 2024 to Sunday 03rd March 2024

You can take part by:

• Completing the survey online here
• Picking up a copy of the survey from West Sussex Record Office
• Requesting a copy by contacting the Record Office on 01243 753602 or record.office@westsussex.gov.uk

Completed surveys can be dropped off at the Record Office or posted back to us at: West Sussex Record Office, County Hall, Chichester PO19 1RN.

We welcome responses from everyone regardless of whether you currently use West Sussex Record Office.

Alternate formats

 If you require any of this information in an alternative format, then please contact us via email at record.office@westsussex.gov.uk or by telephone on 01243 753602 and we will do our best to assist you. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have an NGT texting app installed on your computer, laptop or smartphone, you can contact us on 18001 01243753602.

For more information about the accessibility of this website, please read the Your Voice Engagement Hub Accessibility Statement (opens in new window).

Survey browser compatibility

Please use one of the browsers below when completing the survey to ensure it looks and works as it should. These are:

• Microsoft Edge version 86 and above
• Chrome version 86 and above
• Firefox version 78 and above
• Safari version 14 and above