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Churchill Archives Centre

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Where the modern history of Britain is open to all. Home to the personal papers of 600 political, military and scientific figures.

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It’s really important to us that our researchers find our reading room an inclusive, friendly space.

That’s why our team of Archive Assistants have put together this video sharing some of the features in our reading room which you might not know about.

Join Nicole, Jess, and Cherish as they show you around.

🎶 Bensound, Creative Minds, AKU3OS8UCYHVBSU8

#archives #history #accessibility #archivistsofinstagram #archivesofinstagram #Cambridge taken in Churchill Archives Centre by @chuarchives

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a year ago

📢 New blog post by Anissa Emenike, English Student and Churchill College Summer Bursary Student 2026. Find out what Anissa got up to during her 8 week placement via the link in our bio.

📷 Anissa's favourite image from a trip to the National Archives

@churchillcol Outside of the National Archives, Kew, on a sunny day by @chuarchives

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12 hours ago

📚 Whether you're an undergraduate, postgraduate, academic, or independent researcher, our research grants and By-Fellowships are designed to support work using our collections here at Churchill Archives Centre.

🔎 We have openings for 3 Archives By-Fellowships each year for researchers engaged in academic projects at a post-doctoral level or above.

⏰️ Apply by 31st December to be considered for the academic year 2026-2027.

📂 We also have small grants to fund work undertaken on the papers of Sir Winston Churchill and other related collections available to undergraduates, postgraduates, academics and independent researchers.

🔗 To find out more about these opportunities & to apply, visit the link in our bio

And please share widely with your networks.

#research #funding #archives Churchill Archives Centre By-Fellowships and Research Grants leaflet by @chuarchives

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a day ago

A fun find from the correspondence of Churchill’s son Randolph, especially for anyone who’s watched SAS: Rogue Heroes. This postcard was sent to Randolph by SAS founder Lt-Col David Stirling from a cell in Italy in 1943, where he had ended up after one of his many attempts to escape from his prisoner of war camp. True to form, the dead-pan Stirling grumbles that it was ‘peculiarly exasperating’ to be caught in the final stages of the campaign; he never did manage to get away, but ended the war as a prisoner in Colditz.

📷 The back of a postcard from David Stirling to Randolph Churchill, 1943. From the Papers of Randolph Churchill, RDCH 1/1/2

@sasrogueheroes The back of an Italian prisoners of war postcard sent from David Stirling to Randolph Churchill by @chuarchives

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2 days ago

Newly published guest blog post - an article by Peter Ricketts on diplomat Valentine Lawford, with extracts from Lawford's diaries held at Churchill Archives Centre. The article was originally published in @engelsbergideas.

Link to article in bio.

📷 Photographs of Valentine Lawford from the Papers of Valentine Lawford at Churchill Archives Centre. From file LWFD 6/1 Three photographs of Valentine Lawford at different ages by @chuarchives

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5 days ago

New guest blog post from researcher Richard Simpson, on Charles Merz (born 152 years ago this week), arguably the most important early pioneer of Britain's electricity supply industry. Link in bio.

📷 Agreement between the consulting engineers Merz and McLellan and Francis Thomas Bacon in respect of Bacon’s employment as a research engineer, July 1940. From the Papers of Francis Bacon at Churchill Archives Centre, BACN A20

@theiet The top half of a signed agreement between Merz and McLellan and Francis Thomas Bacon, 27th July 1940 by @chuarchives

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7 days ago

🏛️ 🏨 🏫 On #WorldArchitectureDay2026, we are sharing Ove Arup’s draft list of the best post-war buildings. This list was somewhat reluctantly compiled at the request of architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner, who was seeking suggestions for the most “architecturally satisfying” and “interesting new structures” to showcase at the 1958 Milan Triennale.

Ove Arup (1895-1988) was a structural engineer and founder of the global company Arup. The 162 boxes of his personal papers @chuarchives encompass diaries, correspondence, articles, lectures, project papers and architectural drawings. They illuminate his ideas, collaborations and networks over a long and influential career in engineering, architecture and design.

One of our current projects focuses on improving and adding detail to the existing catalogue of Ove Arup’s papers. As work progresses, it’s a joy to come across interesting individual documents like the list, but also to make small connections between different items in the collection and draw them to the attention of researchers.

Top of Ove Arup’s list was Unité d’habitation, Le Corbusier’s housing development in Marseille, constructed between 1947 and 1952. Ove Arup’s diary records his first visit to see the building during a family holiday in 1949. Although the weather was unseasonably cold and they couldn’t go inside, still it made an impression. After a happier visit later the same year, architect Clive Entwistle shared his idealistic response to the building in a letter to his friend Ove Arup, concluding: “There is nothing else like it anywhere, yet.”

📷 1. Ove Arup’s list of the best post-war buildings, Feb 1957 (ARUP 2/24 part 1).
📷 2. Ove Arup’s correspondence with Nikolaus Pevsner, Jan-Feb 1957 (ARUP 2/24 part 1) and Ove Arup’s diary entry about his visit to see “Corbusier’s new building”, 10 Apr 1949 (ARUP 1/1 part 2).
📷 3. Clive Entwistle’s letter to Ove Arup about Unité d’habitation (“This building is democracy!”), 2 Sep 1949 (ARUP 2/22 part 3).

@phase2exhibitions

#WAD2026 #HousingIsAHumanRight A handwritten list of buildings on Ove Arup and Partners Memorandum headed paper by @chuarchives

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9 days ago

On Wednesday 7th October, 4pm UK time, Director of @chuarchives Allen Packwood will be in conversation with expert panellist editors and contributors to a @bloomsburypublishing History special issue on Winston Churchill’s International Relations.

Topics are:
➡️ How does Churchill fit into the study of imperial history?
Jayne Gifford, Associate Professor in Modern History, University of East Anglia, UK @jayne.gifford @ueahistory

➡️ What can we learn about modern South African history through studying Churchill?
Luvuyo Wotshela, Professor of History, Rhodes University, South Africa @rhodes_university

➡️ Was Churchill consistent in his worldview?
Richard Toye, Professor of Modern History, University of Exeter, UK @richard_john_toye @uniofexeter

You can find out more and sign up to this FREE WEBINAR via the link in our bio.

@bloomsburydigtl Screenshot of webpage for Churchill and Global Modern History webinar by @chuarchives

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13 days ago

On Sunday 1st November Aldeburgh Cinema will be showing Groundbreakers, a film about Women in Parliament. Featuring interviews conducted before the 2024 General Election with some of the most influential women in British parliamentary history.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion chaired by Zoe Billingham CBE, with Baroness Gillian Shephard, Baroness Anne Jenkin, Dame Vera Baird, Boni Sones OBE and introduced by Allen Packwood Director of the Churchill Archives Centre.

Find out more and book your ticket via the link in our bio.

@thealdeburghcinema @boni.sones

📷 Women MPs featured in Groundbreakers Portrait photographs of Women MPs featured in Groundbreakers by @chuarchives

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13 days ago

⏰️ TONIGHT at 5.30pm, open to all. Bill Whiteside will discuss his new book about the sinking of the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir in July 1940, in conversation with Director of Churchill Archives Centre, Allen Packwood.

In the Jock Colville Hall at Churchill College. No need to book, just turn up. Details via link in bio.

📷 Bill Whiteside

@churchillcol @perfectlytruestory Portrait photograph of Bill Whiteside by @chuarchives

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16 days ago

📰 New guest blog post from Archives Centre researcher Zachary Kuntz, PhD candidate in History at the University of South Florida. Zach used the Mitrokhin papers to research Iosif Grigulevich, one of the most successful deep‑cover illegals in the history of Soviet espionage.

Link read Zach's blog post via the link in our bio.

📷 Russian stamp of Iosif Grigulevich, 2025. Wikimedia Commons

@usfworld Portrait of Iosif Grigulevich on a 2025 Russian stamp by @chuarchives

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22 days ago

🎞️ 📽️ Bridging perspectives across the Atlantic and across industries to navigate modern geopolitical risk.

We are excited to release our highlights video of our Geopolitical Risk conference from earlier this year, featuring exclusive interview clips with our speakers and valued supporters. Thank you to all who contributed to these crucial discussions.

Watch via the link in our bio Title reading: Geopolitical Risk: Learning from the past, shaping the future by @chuarchives

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23 days ago