Every week, a wide assortment of archive documents and local studies material from a variety of sources passes through our doors to join the six miles of records in our strongrooms.
Behind the scenes, we work closely with the records, diligently cataloguing, cleaning, conserving and packaging them so that they can be made available to the public.
It's work that we thoroughly enjoy, and everyone here has a tale to tell: whether it's the story behind a favourite book, the background to an unusual collection, or how we repaired a very fragile document.
Each month, the Surrey Heritage teams showcase their own particular "Marvel of the Month".
Our 2025 Marvels
July
For our July Marvel of the Month, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of the author and Esher resident best known for his First World War play, Journey's End.
Celebrating R C Sherriff (1896 to 1975)
June
For our June Marvel of the Month, we discovered the Surrey connections of a poet and churchman, recognised as one of the greatest writers in English.
For whom the bill tells: John Donne and the Mores of Loseley
May
In May, to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, we revealed how the people of Surrey celebrated the end of the Second World War in 1945.
'The war is over, the war is over' - Victory celebrations in Surrey
April
For our April Marvel of the Month, we discovered how robust preventative measures and a disaster plan help ensure that the county's archive at Surrey History Centre is well cared for and protected.
March
For Women's History Month, we celebrated the work of Surrey women on the Western Front through the discovery of an intriguing photograph.
Mr Tarrant's 'Lady Carpenters' – women at work in WW1
February
Parish registers aren't always just records of baptisms, marriages and burials. For our February Marvel of the Month, we took a look at a rather unusual discovery in an 18th century Fetcham church register.
Our 2024 Marvels
December
Our December Marvel of the Month featured a great example of how partnerships help facilitate access to our archive collections for new and existing audiences.
Manor Hospital patient photographs – a truly collaborative project
November
Our November Marvel of the Month revealed the impact of the First World War on a young man who shared in vivid detail his experiences of the Western Front in family letters.
October
For October's Marvel of the Month, we explored two local Black History stories and show how our archive collections help reveal the bigger picture.
Black History Month 2024: Reclaiming Black History Narratives
September
For September's Marvel of the Month, we revealed the story behind the lengthy and challenging repair of a large and very fragile map.
August
For August's Marvel of the Month, we discovered the jottings and scribblings of the Margesson family of Ockley in an old church register of baptisms, marriages and burials.
Seventeenth century upcycling: a parish register's unusual history
July
For July's Marvel of the Month, we shared some charming drawings by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, otherwise known as Lewis Carroll, from the significant Dodgson family collection at Surrey History Centre.
'Golden summer hours and whispers of a summer sea': Lewis Carroll's sketchbook
June
For June's Marvel of the Month, site work undertaken by Surrey County Archaeological Unit and wood timber dating at a Surrey estate has revealed a mixture of styles and materials dating back to the 14th century.
Before the Stuart façade: the hidden history of West Horsley Place
May
The Marvel of the Month in May celebrated the dedicated naturalists or 'citizen scientists', who have studied and recorded the county's flora, fauna and other natural phenomena.
April
For our April Marvel of the Month, we discovered how careful conservation work on treasured documents at Surrey History Centre helps preserve our history for future generations.
Conserving an early 16th century notebook
March
Our March Marvel of the Month explored the life and portrayal of a Surrey diarist, author, horticulturalist, servant of state and founding Fellow of the Royal Society.
Portraits of John Evelyn (1620 to 1706), a man of the 17th century
February
Our February Marvel of the Month celebrated the life and work of one of Surrey's lesser known artists who painted some of the county's most striking landscapes.
Edward Wilkins Waite (1854 to 1924): artist of Surrey landscapes in oil
Our Marvels archive
- December - Travels with the regiment
- November - Congregationalism in Guildford: an illustrated history
- October - Saluting our Sisters!
- September - Where there's a will
- August - The reception of Ugandan Asian refugees in Surrey
- July - A later Saxon and Norman cemetery at Godalming
- June - The 5th Viscount Midelton and Augustus Pugin at Peper Harrow
- May - Coronation celebrations in Old Woking, 1953
- April - A charming 19th century album of watercolours
- March - Harriet Grote, 19th century radical 'female politician, hostess and patron
- February - The Hoole family scrapbooks
- December - The Elstead Hoard of Roman silver coins
- November - Wartime Civil Defence Personnel Identity Registers
- October - Phillis Wheatley: the 'Mother of Black Literature'
- September - Excavation at Ankerwycke Priory
- August - South Asian Heritage Month
- July - An anniversary for the Manorial Documents Register
- June - Lady Sybil Grant, a friend of the Gypsies
- May - Edward Brayley, Surrey Historian
- April - A well-travelled scrapbook
- March - Diana Rowden and the Special Operations Executive
- February Tracing Transgender history in our collections
- December - Jane Austen in Surrey
- November - Disability and mental health history in Surrey
- October - A mainstay of the National Health Service: Black nurses in Surrey's mental hospitals
- September - Saxon Moot at Langley Vale
- August - The Festival of Britain celebrations in Surrey
- July - A man's estate surveyed: Sir William More's book
- June - W Williamson and Sons, cabinet makers of Guildford, 1720-1960
- May - Surrey Women's Institute presentation albums
- April - Oatlands Palace Archive Project
- March - Seals among the deeds of the Leigh-Bennett family
- February - Alan Turing (1912-1954): mathematician, cryptanalyst and Guildford resident
- December - The Lost Manor of Preston Hawe
- November - The Laverty notebooks
- October - Black History Month: Abolitionists in Surrey
- September - An Eighteenth Century map of Surrey
- August - Milestones in the life of Surrey's historic road network
- July - William Gilpin's Painshill sketchbook
- June - The Witley Camp Spoon
- May - A visit to Mr Darwin
- April - More than dry parchment
- March - Surrey County Cricket Club celebrates 175 years
- February - Poetry, Prose and Plays: E M Forster and friends
- December - Guildford's High Street
- November - A Family at War: the Eaton Cottage Herald
- October - Lucean Arthur Headen - an African American inventor in Camberley
- September - Sir Barnes Wallis at Surrey History Centre
- August - What did the Normans do for us?
- July - The wartime bombing of County Hall, Kingston
- June - On 6 June 1944, it was announced: "D-Day has come".
- May - Walt Whitman in the Lushington archive
- April - Vokes Engineering Ltd of Henley Park, Normandy, Guildford
- March - Romance and red tape: the Lovelace marriage settlement of 1835
- February - Nominal Roll of 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment
- December - The South West Prospect of Guildford in the county of Surrey
- November - After the Armistice – a Soldier's View
- October - Black History Month
- September - Suffragettes in Surrey: Walton-on-the-Hill's Explosive Past
- August - Decorated Neolithic Bowl from Hengrove Farm, Staines
- July - Sir Hubert Parry, the Lushingtons, and Surrey
- June - Machine Gun Sections of Territorial Force Battalions in the Great War
- May - Microcosm of a 17th century gentleman restored
- April - Cycling in Surrey
- March - An officer learns his trade
- February - The Workhouse
- December - A Surrey Christmas
- November - Surrey's Passchendaele, 31 July-10 November 1917
- October - Legacies of British slave ownership
- September - Studying the flora and fauna of Surrey
- August - A Medieval ampulla from the American School in Switzerland, Thorpe
- July - Conservation of court books from the Goulburn family archives
- June - Aircraftman Arthur Coombs (1900-1920), RAF, of Cobham
- May - A spoonful of sugar, 17th century style
- April - The Royal Philanthropic School at Redhill
- March - Words in Focus – landscape poetry and photography
- February - February is LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans) History Month
- December - It's Christmas
- November - John Norden's 'Mirror of Britain'
- October - Sketches of African Americans in the Vaughan-Williams collection
- September - Preserving records for the future
- August - Bronze Age hoard at Esher
- July - The Battle of the Somme 100 years on: Captain Arthur Spooner, MC, of Knaphill
- June - Gypsies in early Surrey records
- May - A prince of many virtues and many great imperfections: a loyalist's relics of King Charles II in exile
- April - The Queen's Prisoner of War Relief Fund
- March - Recording the domestic and rural architecture of Limpsfield and Oxted
- February - The Lushington family: a photographic narrative
- December - Early road maps
- November - "All's Well" with Watney's Men in Gallipoli
- October - A Black Poppy: Pte Harold Brown, of the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment
- September - Surrey's private presses
- August - Inspector William Donaldson (1807-1855): the first Surrey policeman to be killed on duty
- July - Early Medieval linen smoother, Surrey
- June - The Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815
- May - Hunter-Gatherers in Guildford
- April - Alfred Wells and the Surrey Industrial School at Byfleet
- March - A Surrey village: the records of Albury History Society
- February - A Saxon coin brooch from Headley
December
November
October
September
August
- Broadwood customers and destinations
- Old cottages and farmhouses in Surrey
- Heavy losses to the 1st Queen's, 1914
July
June
- Ernest James 'Gentleman Jim' Langley (7 February 1929 – 9 December 2007)
- Celebrating Volunteers' Week
May
April
March
- White and Sons of Dorking: 80 years of auction records
- 'Perdita': the extraordinary life of author and actress Mary Robinson
February
December
November
- The grand opening of County Hall, Kingston, 13 November 1893
- Farnham in the Civil War, November 1643
- Seeing the light: protection from light damage
October
September
August
- More Place, Betchworth: an 1827 nursery order
- A brief history of papermaking and paper conservation
- Charles Thomas Cracklow (1763-1826)
July
- George Sturt (1863-1927)
- 'Thumping plum puddings': the diaries of Elizabeth Davis of Gosden House, Shalford
- Bookbinding techniques
June
- Ockenden International: the remarkable story of a Surrey refugee charity
- Jean Carré and wealden glass
- Pins, clips and staples: damaging fasteners in archive collections
May
April
March
February
- Your Paintings and the Lewis Carroll connection
- The history and conservation of seals
- Henry Goulburn's letters to his daughter
January
December
- Loseley Christmas and New Year gifts
- Wonderful winter weather in Surrey in 1927
- Tracings in archive collections
November
- Moor Park, Farnham
- The Queens Royal West Surreys and the Boer War
- Behind the scenes: the conservation studio
October
September
August
- The Duke of York marches on London, September 1450
- The development of iron gall ink
- Town and village guides
July
Inspired by our Marvels?
If you want to start your own research into Surrey's rich history, or build your family tree, or perhaps look into the history of your house, take a look at our Archives and history research guides to help get you started. There's also a wealth of information in our Archives and books collections and if you want to know more about how we preserve the vast and fascinating collection of items that we hold, visit our Surrey History Centre Conservation section page.