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Booking to visit the Somerset Heritage Centre

  

Booking an archive visit at the Somerset Heritage Centre (from July 2026)

This guide provides advice on how to make an appointment for an archive or local studies research visit at the Somerset Heritage Centre, including how to pre-order documents and manage your booking.

As space is limited in our searchroom, we do strongly encourage you to make an appointment before visiting. By making an appointment you will have a guaranteed space and are able to pre-order documents ready for your arrival. We do, however, have some drop-in spaces which are allocated on a first come first served basis.

To make a booking and pre-order documents, please visit the Bookings page or head directly to the online catalogue.

    

When can I visit?

We are open Tuesday-Thursday 10am-5pm. We have two sessions each day. The morning session runs from 10am-1pm and the afternoon session runs from 2pm-5pm. You can arrive any time during your booked session. If you have booked a whole day, your morning and afternoon pre-orders will be ready for you when you arrive.

We are also open four Saturday mornings a year, with a single session running from 9am-1pm. As well as being open for research on these Saturday mornings, we also have Discovery Saturday events like talks and exhibitions running. Please see our website for dates and event details.

  

What type of seat should I book?

We offer the following types of space/seat for undertaking research:

  • Desk seat: a space to view original documents (with the exception of maps and plans) and library books.
  • Companion: to book in a companion that is accompanying you to undertake research and is intending to use a desk seat.
  • Microfilm/fiche reader: to view documents that are available on microfilm or microfiche (e.g. churchwarden’s accounts or newspapers). If you have a USB stick and have purchased a photographic licence, you can save digital images of documents viewed.
  • PC: to view online resources such as Ancestry, Find My Past, Know Your Place, the Somerset Historic Environment Record, the British Newspaper Archive and other selected sites. We also have several non-bookable PCs to access our online catalogues and records noted on our online catalogue as having been digitised.
  • Map table: to view maps and plans that are too large to consult at a desk seat.

You can book a combination of seats, depending on the types of documents you would like to consult, but are unable to book two of the same type of seat.

   

Registering and signing-in

Registering for an account allows you to make a booking without having to enter your contact details each time. You can also view, manage and cancel existing bookings, usually up to 48 hours ahead of your visit.

To create an account, or to sign in if you already have an account, click on Sign in/Register and follow the instructions. If you do not receive an email link to create an account, please check your junk folder.

  

Making a booking

The booking page looks like this. You are able to select the day you would like to visit, and then select the type of seat(s) you would like to book for each session. You have 30 minutes in which to select your documents and save the booking.

After selecting your seat(s) and session(s) you will be asked to enter your contact details. We will use these contact details to help manage your visit and issue reader’s tickets.

  

Adding pre-orders to your booking

  • Tuesday-Thursday you can add 4 pre-orders per session (8 in total if you are visiting all day).
  • Saturday you can add 6 pre-orders
  • There are no pre-order limits for documents which are marked on the catalogue as requiring 24-hours’ notice to view them (for example, photographs stored in our Cold Store). Add the first four or eight documents to your booking (depending on how many sessions you have booked) and then list the remainder in the ‘uncatalogued items’ section.
  • It is not possible to pre-order documents for anyone booked using the companion option. If the person accompanying you is planning on consulting different documents to those you have pre-ordered, they will need to book a document space under their own name.
  • Once you have worked your way through your pre-orders, more documents can be requested during your visit. We produce documents between 10am-1pm and 2pm-4pm and are usually able to produce them within 10 minutes, depending on how busy we are.
  • With the exception of documents marked on the catalogue as requiring 24 hours’ notice, there is no need to add pre-orders to your booking if you aren’t sure what you would like to see. Documents can be ordered out during your session. Talk to staff when you arrive.

Once you have made your booking, you can add documents in two ways:

Clicking on the search the catalogue option will take you to the catalogue home page where you can search and browse the catalogue descriptions. When you find a catalogue description for an item you would like to see, click on the ‘Add to booking’ button in the green box. Keep searching and adding documents until you have either pre-ordered the documents you would like to see, or filled your pre-order slots.

To add documents to a booking you will need to know the reference numbers of the documents you would like to see. You can enter these in the box under ‘Select items by reference’.

Start to type in your reference number, and then select the correct item from the list which appears. Please bear in mind you will need to enter the reference numbers exactly how they appear on the catalogue – with slashes and dots in the correct place. If the item you are looking for does not appear, go back to the online catalogue to check your reference. Keep entering and adding documents until you have either pre-ordered all the documents you would like to see, or filled your pre-order slots. Click the Next button and then Update booking.

You are now all set. Your booking has been made, your documents pre-ordered and we look forward to seeing you. You will also receive an email confirming your appointment and providing some details about visiting us. If you need to amend your booking you can also do this from links in the email.

  

Pre-ordering uncatalogued, library and cold store items

Not all of the collections held at the Somerset Heritage Centre have an individual entry and reference number on the online archive catalogue. This includes Somerset Studies Library and SANHS Library collections which are listed on the library catalogue, uncatalogued collections and newspaper microfilm. The ‘uncatalogued items’ option can be used to pre-order these collections, along with items marked on the online catalogue as being stored in the Cold Store and requiring 24 hours' notice.

Use this option as follows:

  • For Somerset Studies and SANHS library items note title, author and shelf mark (these details can be found on the South West Heritage Trust Local Studies Catalogue).
  • For Uncatalogued archive collections please provide the collection reference number and any specific box numbers you would like to see (if known). For example: DD/WI, unlisted accession 2022/30, Box 3 (Huish Episcopi) and Box 4 (Barrington). If you request a large number of unlisted boxes, we may only have the first four ready when you arrive.
  • For newspaper microfilm please note the newspaper title and the month(s) and year(s) you would like to see.
  • For items stored in the cold store and which are marked on the catalogue as needing 24 hours' notice, please list all the reference numbers of the items you would like to see.

Please do not use the uncatalogued archive collections option for a general enquiry. If you can’t find the documents you are interested in on the online catalogue, or are unsure of what sources may be useful for your research, please contact us and we would be happy to advise you.

  

Amending a booking

Once you have made a booking, you are able to amend it by adding or removing pre-orders (as long as you aren’t exceeding the slot and session pre-order limits), changing the date, and reducing the number of sessions. You can also cancel a booking. If your online session has timed out, you can go back and amend your booking by signing in (if you have registered with the booking portal), or by following the links in the email you will have received confirming your original booking.

View/Amend a booking and pre-orders: This provides details of your booking, including documents you have pre-ordered, the type of seat booked and slots (morning and/or afternoon). From this you can:

  • Add or remove seats: This allows you to cancel your booking, extend your session to all day (if space is available) or reserve an additional type of seat (for example, a microfilm/fiche reader). You can select more than one type of seat per slot (morning or afternoon), either for yourself or for yourself and a companion. For example, you can book a desk seat and a microfilm/fiche reader.
  • Add/remove items: This allows you to change your pre-order requests. You can add more documents (if you didn’t add them at the time of booking) or change the pre-orders you selected. Use the remove button to remove an item, and then search again to select new items. If we have prepared the records for your visit these will show as ‘already prepared’ and it won’t be possible to amend these yourself (this usually occurs 48 hours before your visit).

Change the date of your booking: This allows you to change the date of a booking, usually up to 48 hours before your visit, selecting the relevant type of seat required (if available). All your existing pre-orders will be transferred to this new booking (with the exception of any surplus pre-orders if you reduce your booking from a whole day to half a day). You can find this option on the bookings page.

Cancel a booking: This allows you to cancel bookings. If you have made multiple bookings, each one will need to be cancelled individually. Cancelling a booking loses all of your pre-orders, so make sure you’ve made a note of any documents you wanted to see in case you would like to rebook in the future.

Remember to save any changes to your booking before leaving the booking page.

If you added a companion to your original booking it isn’t possible to add/remove seats using this option. You can cancel your whole booking and then rebook again. Alternatively, email us to amend your booking.

Some points to note about amending your booking:

  • If you reduce an existing all-day booking (morning and afternoon) to half a day, only 4 pre-ordered documents can be selected rather than 8. It will be necessary to add/remove the surplus pre-orders before you can update your booking.
  • You can only book one of each type of seat per slot (morning or afternoon). If you are making a booking for someone who is accompanying you and you both require a desk seat, you can add them using the companion option, or a separate booking can be made for them.
  • Only one companion can be added to a booking using the companion option. If more than one person is accompanying you, and you all require the same type of seat, it would be necessary for each person to book a seat themselves. Please bear in mind that we cannot accommodate a group of more than 8 people in our searchroom. However, it is possible to arrange a self-guided Group Research Visit. Further details can be found here.
  • If you selected the companion option in your original booking, it isn’t possible to remove seats using the add/remove seats function. You can cancel your whole booking and then rebook again. Alternatively, email us to amend your booking.

  

Should I register?

It is your choice to register or not. If you think you will be visiting frequently, choosing this option means you don’t need to re-enter your contact details each time. If you are booking for a single visit, registering may not be beneficial for you. Without registering, you will still receive an email confirming your booking and providing a link to allow you to view, amend or cancel your appointment.

  

First visit and reader's tickets

If it is your first visit to us, or your existing reader’s ticket has expired, we will need to issue you with a new reader’s ticket when you arrive. These are valid for 4 years and are also accepted at Devon Heritage Centre and North Devon Archives.

Please bring some ID containing your name, address and signature. These can be on two different pieces of ID if necessary. Acceptable forms of ID include a drivers’ licence, utility bill, debit/credit card or bank statement. Unfortunately, we cannot accept passports.

If you already have a valid reader’s ticket, please bring this with you.

  

Some points to note

  •  All bookings close 48 hours before the beginning of a session, so the Tuesday morning sessions close at 10am on the previous Sunday. Once the bookings have closed you will be unable to make a new booking or amend a current booking.
  • For a Tuesday following a Bank Holiday we often close the bookings before the weekend to allow us to prepare for your visit. Therefore the 48 hours guidance will not apply and you will be unable to create a new booking or amend an existing booking. Please email us if you need to do so.
  • The booking system automatically knows what type of seat you need, so if you try to  pre-order a map but have a desk space booked you will be unable to add the map to your list of pre-orders, and the same applies with documents which are on microfiche or film. Please amend your booking to add the correct type of seat. Our online catalogue shows the format of a document (for example, a map will have the category of ‘Maps and Plans’ and documents on microfiche/film will be annotated as such in the title or description field).
  • If an item is on restricted access (marked as ‘Closed’ on the catalogue) you won’t be able to request it as a pre-order. Details on requesting access to such records can be found in our Data Protection and Freedom of Information guide. Please do contact us to discuss your research options.
  • If you are unsure of what sources or records may be useful for your research, please get in touch and we would be happy to advise you.