The County Record Office has many facilities available for visitors, researchers, educators and others.

The facilities include:

• large public searchroom including microfilm/microfiche readers;
• internet access;
• Wi-Fi hotspot;
• people's network terminal;
• laptop computers;
• meeting room for the use of educational and other groups;
• tea room for visitors' use;
• exhibition area;
• public toilets;
• disabled access; and
• car parking spaces for visitors

There is no charge to visit the County Record Office but you should make an appointment before visiting. Bookings can be made by telephone, e-mail, fax, post or in person. Fees are charged for copies and for our research, records management, conservation and reprographic services.

For more information on accessing the records, including opening hours and guidelines in handing the archive documents, see the Records and archives - access page.

Research service

Searches of the records can be carried out by staff in the County Record Office. Fees for this service will be charged at £30 per hour, with a minimum charge of £15.

Parish registers, prior to 1838, which are deposited in the County Record Office are being transcribed and indexed by computer. The indexes include all the basic details contained in the transcripts of the registers. This work will take several years to complete but already many parishes have been treated in this way. Where computer indexes have been completed, the fee for entries of a single surname in the registers of an individual parish will be £40. The fee for entries of a single surname in the registers of any one consolidated group of parishes will be £85.

Copies of complete indexes of registers are not available for purchase. Overseas orders should be paid by credit card, by sterling bankers' drafts drawn on a British bank, or by sterling money orders. Foreign currency cannot be accepted.

For more information on the research service, see the Records and archives - enquiries page.

Depositing records with the County Record Office

Records considered worthy of permanent preservation can be deposited at the County Record Office for safekeeping and to be made available for study. If you want to deposit your records with us, you can find relevant information on the loans, donations and bequests page. You might also find it useful to familiarise yourself with our full conditions of deposit.

County Record Office preservation policy

The County Record Office cares for millions of documents of all shapes, sizes and ages which are housed in one purpose-adapted repository in Northallerton. As part of this work, we have established a preservation policy that encompasses all procedures and processes involved in the stabilisation and protection of documents to prolong their useful life and to minimise harmful effects.

For details of all County Record Office policies, see the policies page.

Online archives Search through our catalogue of over 4000 summary descriptions from all our archive collections and item level descriptions of selected collections.