Visiting the Research Room
The Research Room at IWM London is open to the public:
- Tuesdays: 10am to 4:30pm
- Wednesdays: 10am to 4.30pm
- Thursdays: 10am to 4.30pm
- Fridays: 10am to 4.30pm
Last admission is at 4.00pm
On Mondays the Research Room is open from 10am to 4pm to accommodate researchers viewing 3D objects or artwork. Requests for Mondays can be made by emailing [email protected].
Book an appointment to visit IWM's Research Room using our booking link.
Advanced booking is essential, and we have a capacity of fifteen researchers per day. We ask researchers to book an appointment at least seven days in advance of their visit so that material can be made available.
We provide access to original documents, sound recordings, photographs, IWM’s administrative archive records and our library material. Please note, we cannot provide access to films in the Research Room. Please visit our film archive page for more information regarding access to our film collection.
At present we do not have a limit on how many appointments you can make. When booking for more than one day, please make a separate booking for each additional date.
Bookings are valid for the whole day, however, to help us make your visit a success please indicate whether you are hoping to come in the morning, the afternoon or for the whole day where possible.
Last admission is at 4.00 pm.
If you need to cancel or re-arrange your appointment, please e-mail us at [email protected], quoting your booking reference number to let us know as soon as possible.
Requests for archive material must be made at least seven days in advance of your visit to IWM's Research room.
Visit our Online Catalogue to identify what you would like to see.
Once you have done that, please use our booking schedule to place your request. Please note we cannot provide access to film in the Research Room at this time. Please visit our film archive page for more information regarding access to our film collection.
You can order up to ten items per visit.
If you require access to 3D objects, artworks or original material from the War Artist's Archive please contact us at [email protected] and we will consider your request on a case-by-case basis. If access can be provided, we will offer you an appointment on a Monday.