Local Heritage at Eastwood Library

The Local Heritage section at Eastwood Library is on the first floor of the building with access by lift or stairs.

Here you will find a range of material relating to Eastwood and the surrounding area, with background material on Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands. The library also houses a special collection of material related to D.H. Lawrence.

You will find resources to help you trace:

•        History of local places
•        Recent local developments
•        Transport
•        Local industries/businesses
•        Social history
•        Family history

The book collection has over 1000 volumes, including works by local authors, and the unique Hopkin Collection containing William E. Hopkin’s personal collection of books by and about D.H. Lawrence. Some were given to him by the author in recognition of their long-standing friendship, and donated to the library after  William Hopkin’s death.

Some items are only available to be consulted in the library, but wherever possible we offer a loan copy of the title as well. The majority can be searched for on the library catalogue but some are not yet included. The Local Studies classification numbers can be used to find books on specific themes e.g. L90.2 Eastwood is the reference for titles concerned with the history of the town in general, but topics such as Housing or Mining in Eastwood have a specific number. Indexes are available and library staff will be able to help.

Titles include:

• The Nottinghamshire Historian 
• Nottinghamshire Family History Society newsletter
• Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire (history and archaeology)
• Parish magazines for much of the surrounding area
• East Midlands History and Heritage 

The library holds copies of the Eastwood and Kimberley Advertiser from May 1895-1897 and 1899 onwards on microfilm. There is a partial  card index to this newspaper and a non-digital microfilm reader is provided.

N.B. Not all Nottinghamshire titles are currently included in the British Newspaper Archive, although there may be relevant articles in other titles accessible via this FREE subscription available in Inspire Libraries and at Nottinghamshire Archives.
A list of Nottinghamshire titles in digital format on the British Newspaper Archive can be found here.

The trade directories, covering the period from around 1850, e.g. White’s Directory of1853, give contemporary information about Eastwood, including listings of local industries, and prominent people.

Ephemera boxes were compiled in the past to hold newspaper cuttings, leaflets and uncatalogued material on local themes.

The photograph collection includes hundreds of images in 2 filing cabinets, covering the period from the 1850s to the late Twentieth Century. These are filed by theme and an index to the classification scheme is available.

Over 25,000 Nottinghamshire images have been digitised and are available on the Inspire Picture Archive website

A map cabinet contains maps and plans, dating from from the early 19th century. These include Ordnance Survey large scale 6-inch and 25-inch plans (plus metric equivalents) of the area from c.1880. Maps are available to browse. If you have a specific query about mapping please contact us direct via Ask Inspire.

Census returns for the Eastwood and its neighbouring parishes, from 1841 to 1901, are available on microfiche, but the free access to Ancestry.co.uk in libraries and at Nottinghamshire Archives is often a more convenient way of searching for census information.

Parish Registers on microfiche cover Eastwood (and surrounding parishes) from 1692 into the Twentieth Century (where they survive). Microfiche copies in the library have been well-used for many years, but from August 2022 the majority of records are available via Inspire's FREE subscription to Ancestry.co.uk. A full list of those available online is here.

A separate family history collection of some key titles to help with the process of researching family history is also available in general library stock. For help with specific enquiries please contact Ask Inspire.

Archival records such as wills, diaries, original parish registers, business and personal correspondence etc. are held at Nottinghamshire Archives:

County House
Castle Meadow Road
Nottingham
NG2 1AG
Email: archives@inspireculture.org.uk
Tel: 0115 9581634