Outreach at the Parliamentary Archives
Exhibitions and displays
Small displays on particular topics are mounted by the Parliamentary Archives in the Norman Porch in the House of Lords. These are only accessible to visitors on tours of the Palace, members and their guests and staff.
Exhibitions are sometimes mounted in Westminster Hall where they can be accessed by the public. Details of these exhibitions will be provided on the Parliamentary website.
Online versions of our exhibitions and displays are made available within Living Heritage on the Parliamentary website. Examples include:
- The Gunpowder Plot
- Parliament and the British Slave Trade
- Act of Union 1707
- John Wilkes and Parliamentary Reform
- The Race Relations Act 1965
Community engagement programming
In recent years as part of our audience development plans we have undertaken engagement projects with a range of regional archive partners, community groups and schools. The Communities project explored themes such as railways, taxation, town improvement schemes and the right to vote whilst the De Montfort project looked at the impact of members of the House of Commons and House of Lords on different communities. Both projects drew on our own collections as well as those of the partner institutions and in addition to workshops included touring displays, visits and talks. The results of these activities are available as case studies within Living Heritage on the Parliamentary website.
We are also supporting two key Parliamentary public engagement projects: Vote 100 and Parliament and the First World War.
If you would like to know more about, or are interested in participating in, our future programming please contact us.
Loans to external exhibitions
We welcome applications to borrow items in our collections for display in exhibitions from public and private bodies. More information about this process and how to apply is available here. We are happy to discuss with borrowers how we might support loans through talks, workshops and other activities.
Recent borrowers have included:
- New York Historical Society
- St Fagans National History Museum
- Tate Britain
- National Maritime Museum
- Norfolk Record Office
- British Library
- Durham University Library
- The Collection, Lincoln