All of our books and records may be consulted free of charge at our Library and Research Centre in Watlington House in Reading. It provides a peaceful, bright and 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 team will be there to greet you when you arrive. Please read our guidance on preparing for your visit.
Could you be our next author? Inspiring, facilitating and publishing research
A central part of our work is to encourage research into the history of milling. In addition to providing access to our Archive and Library resources, we regularly publish research in physical and digital format. To find out more and to discuss getting your own research published with us, get in touch with us. You do not need to be a seasoned researcher with a backlist of publications; we are keen to make publishing more accessible to a range of people and available in different formats for a variety of audiences, including short-form digital articles.
Our research resources: The Archive and Library
The Mills Archive has some four million records in its care from more than 250 collections. All catalogued items may be consulted free of charge at Watlington House.
You may freely search or browse the online Archive catalogue before you come. You may find there is sufficient detail in our catalogue information and scans to save you a trip!
If you are new to archives, there is useful background information on the Archives Hub web site.
We also have an outstanding collection of published books, pamphlets and journals on milling subjects. By using our online Library catalogue you may freely check the range of books available before you visit us.
If you cannot make the trip, check our shop. 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.
