17 Jul The Essex Record Office will open it’s doors to the public next week
The Essex Record Office Searchroom will be open to the public from the 21st of July. Those of you who have been missing your fix of archival research will also be happy to know that this will be one of our long weeks. On Tuesday 21st we will close earlier than usual at 5:00pm, but we are open on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th as normal. Please see our website for further details of our opening times.
While we are all looking forward to seeing you again, we ask that you think carefully before planning your visit to the ERO. If you are displaying any of the symptoms of Covid-19 or are considered to be at increased risk of contracting Covid-19, the advice is that you should not come to the record office. It is also likely that visitors will need to wear a facemask in order to visit the Searchroom from the 24th July.
Things will be a little bit different when you arrive in the Searchroom as we have made several changes to ensure we can all maintain social distancing and stay safe. There will be signage to help you to maintain social distancing and we have implemented a more thorough daily cleaning of the building.
We are limiting the number of people in the Searchroom to 25 so we will need you to book your visit with us in advance. This can be done by emailing ero.enquiry@essex.gov.uk or by calling us on 03330 132497. If possible, please let us know what the nature of your research is and we can advise whether the resources will be available. Please book at least 24 hours before your visit where possible. If you are not able to come on the day you have booked, please let us know so that we can open up your booking to someone else.
As part of the booking process we will ask for your telephone number to help us support NHS Test and Trace. We will only retain these details for 21 days from your visit.
There will be fewer staff available in the Searchroom, so they will not be able to provide close one-to-one assistance with your queries other than from behind the Searchroom desk. It may also mean that documents will take a while longer to be produced.
Our maps and microfilm machines will not be available and there will be no access to the Spalding photographs. Any books that you look at from the open shelves will be quarantined for 72 hours before being returned to the shelves.
There will be a reduced number of desks and Searchroom computers available. A computer will be allocated to you when you arrive and cleaned when you no longer need it. As these are limited, if at all possible, please bring a laptop with you. This can be used on our free guest wifi. Please also bring everything that you need with you as we are not able to lend pencils. Please note that we are also not able to take cash payments in the Searchroom.
