museum records
BGS Archives
The British Geological Survey was founded in 1835 as the Ordnance Geological Survey. It became the Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland (1845–1906), Geological Survey of Great Britain (1906–1965), and the Institute of Geological Sciences (1965–1984) before being renamed the British Geological Survey.
BGS Archives holds:
- administrative records of BGS and its predecessors, which cover UK operations
- administrative and scientific records of BGS, and its predecessors, covering overseas operations
- personal papers of BGS staff and other individuals associated with BGS
- personal papers of individuals or groups in related fields
Please note:
Items which have a KWNB reference in square brackets e.g. [KWNB/328] are located in the Records Centre, Keyworth.
Items which have a LSA reference in square brackets e.g. [LSA/225] are located in the Records Centre Edinburgh.
- Published material is held in the BGS Library
- Scientific data is held in the National Geological Records Centre
Archive Awareness Campaign
Archive Awareness Campaign was originally designed to be a celebration of the rich archive collections held within the UK. For the past seven years the British Geological Survey has hosted an annual event to demonstrate the variety of its archive holdings and their value to science.
Due to major site restructuring at BGS Keyworth we are currently unable to hold the event and have created this online display to showcase some of our unique and valuable collections.
Learn more about BGS and its archives, including interesting stories about BGS work, past, present and future:
- Founding of the Survey
- Keepers of information
- Treasures from the Archives
- Mapping and how it has changed
- Our work overseas
- Present and future projects
Contact information
For more information about our archives contact Andrew L Morrison
