Who are we?

Barts Health NHS Trust Archives preserve the historic collections of the Barts Health hospitals and many other current and former hospitals, and make the stories of healthcare and health education in the City and East London accessible for all.

Anyone can access our historic collections, from family and local history researchers to current clinicians and academic historians, as well as groups from education and the local community, in our searchroom on the St Bartholomew's Hospital site.

Why is collections conservation required?

Our collections span the 12th to the 21st centuries. The archives range from medieval deeds on parchment to large leather-bound ledgers, microfilms and rolled plans, and we hold objects including medical equipment, sculpture, paintings, textiles and more. Although we house collections in specialist acid-free packaging in environmentally-controlled stores, and supervise good practice in handling the collections, many of the archives and objects in the collection have suffered damage during their lives. Some of the collections were subjected to London pollution, open coal fires and hospital chemicals, as well as storage in attics and basements before transfer to archives. Many items are now in urgent need of specialist conservation or rebinding, and a few cannot be accessed by researchers due to their unstable condition.

It is vital that these items are preserved for current researchers and for future generations to access, learn from, and enjoy. You can help us preserve our unique collections by donating to help us fund conservation work.

What will you do with my donation?

We are very grateful for any support you can provide, no matter how small.

Examples of the sort of work your donations will be put to are outlined below.

£100: This amount could pay for up to 25 custom made, archival enclosures to protect fragile collections, or 15 strong acid-free boxes to house collections in the stores.

£500: This amount could support the treatment by an archive conservator of deteriorating leather bindings of one of the thousands of registers and volumes of administrative records in our collections to stabilise the degradation process and prevent further damage. It could pay for the disbinding and rehousing of early case notes with inadequate and broken bindings.

£1000: This amount could pay for more extensive bespoke work, such as conserving a damaged rolled plan and housing it in a specially-made enclosure, to make it accessible for research for the future.

All supporters making donations over £50 will receive a pack of postcards featuring images from the collections.

If you would like to make a gift via bank transfer with no administrative fees, or discuss how to leave a legacy to support the care of the collections, please contact the archives directly.

Our donations are managed through the Archives Fund held with Barts Charity (SPF2501), and this page will direct your donation directly to that fund. Thank you for your support.