Visit Us!
The Research Centre is ajoining the Register Office at the top of Castle Hill and lies about 20 metres from the Berkshire Record Office. The full address is:
Berkshire FHS Research Centre,
Yeomanry House,
131, Castle Hill,
Reading, Berks RG1 7TJ
Tel: 0118 950 9553
For queries about opening hours and general administrative queries Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
For a map showing the location of the Research Centre please click here
We are always pleased to welcome visitors to the Research Centre whether they are members or not. However, it you are not a member of the Society you will need to take out a temporary membership for that day which currently costs £2 (2011). We try to have at least two research assistants on duty at any one time but as they are all volunteers that is not always possible. We ask that you bear with us if we are short staffed for whatever reason.
The computer suite is on the ground floor and offers:
- Ancestry Library Edition with over 8,000 different datasets covering the UK and other parts of the world
- FindMyPast which is UK orientated and includes the 1911 census
- Berkshire Name Index which is a compilation of Berkshire names held in various separate datasets
A small charge is levied for use of Ancestry and FMP to cover operating costs.
Also on the ground floor is the:
- bookshop selling books, CDs and vouchers (cash or cheque with card please)
- Tea and coffee making equipment
- Toilets
- Lockers to store personal effects as no bags or cases are allowed upstairs in the library
- Access to the Register Office to purchase local certificates
Upstairs the library contains:
- over 7,000 items of which about 20% relate to Berkshire, the rest being of a more general nature or covering the rest of the UK and some other parts of the world
- Magazines from other family history societies both from the Uk and abroad
- Microfiche readers and printer
- Microfilm printer
Sadly, we don't have disabled access to the library and as it is a listed building, such access is unlikely in the future. However, you can search the library catalogue on the downstairs computers and Research Assistants will always get items from the library for you. There is one fiche reader available downstairs if required.
There is adequate FREE parking on site for those likely to attend the premises and for those coming to Reading by train the centre is about a 20 minute walk from the station. Alternatively, the centre is served by buses on routes 1, 2, 3, 18, 26, 28 and 33 all of which run from the area around the railway station and operated by Reading Buses. Please see ReadingBuses website for an up-to-date timetable.
For those wishing to find accommodation in Reading, this site may be helpful.
Page last reviewed and revised 13 January 2012
