Library and research centre

All of the books and records in our catalogues may be consulted free of charge at our Library and Research Centre at Watlington House in Reading.

The Archive

The Mills Archive has more than one million records in its care from more than 50 collections. All catalogued items may be consulted free of charge at Watlington House.

You can freely search or browse the Archive catalogue before you come. You may find there is sufficient detail in our catalogue information and scans to save you a trip!  For more information, consult our page on research questions.

If you are new to archives, there is useful background information on the Archives Hub web site.

The Library

On the ground floor of Watlington House, we have a dedicated library and research room for visitors. It provides a peaceful and bright, airy space where you can enjoy reading our books and researching mills and mill people from the wonderful items in our collection. Car parking is easy and we are only 10 minutes walk from Reading railway station. You do need to make an appointment to be sure that one of our volunteers will be there to greet you when you arrive.

We have also created an online Library catalogue where you can freely check the range of books available before you visit us.

If you cannot make the trip, check our continually updated list of books for sale. We stock many important mill books, both new and those second-hand titles which are surplus to requirements and have been donated to raise funds.