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The National Archives (United Kingdom)

The National Archives
Welsh: Yr Archifau Cenedlaethol
The National Archives logo.png
National Archives 2007 02 03.JPG
The National Archives building at Kew
non-ministerial department overview
Formed April 2003 (2003-04)
Jurisdiction England and Wales, Government of the United Kingdom
Headquarters Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU
Employees 679
Annual budget £43.9 million (2009–2010)
Minister responsible
non-ministerial department executive
  • Jeff James, Chief Executive and Keeper of the Public Records
Parent department Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Karen Bradley, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport)
Child agencies
  • Office of Public Sector Information
  • Her Majesty's Stationery Office
Key document
  • Archives Inspire [2]
Website nationalarchives.gov.uk

The National Archives (TNA) is a non-ministerial government department. Its parent department is the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom. It is the official archive of the UK government and for England and Wales; and "guardian of some of the nation's most iconic documents, dating back more than 1,000 years." There are separate national archives for Scotland (the National Records of Scotland) and Northern Ireland (the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland).

TNA was formerly four separate organisations: the Public Record Office, the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) and Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO).

It is institutional policy to include the definite article, with an initial capital letter, in its name (hence "The National Archives", abbreviated as TNA) but this practice is rarely followed in the non-specialist media.

The National Archives is based in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London. The building was opened in 1977 as an additional home for the public records, which were held in a building on Chancery Lane. The site was originally a World War I hospital, which was later used by several government departments. It is near to Kew Gardens Underground station.


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