Research Questions

We are happy to receive research requests form the general public by email, but we do not have the resources to respond to written requests except from Friends of the Mills Archive.

Free Services
Registered users may search our Internet catalogue and examine images free of charge. Simple queries that are emailed and take less than 5 minutes to answer will be handled as rapidly as possible, although we cannot guarantee to respond within a few days. In addition visitors who make an appointment will be able to inspect catalogued originals, browse our library and use our catalogue at our Research Room in Reading, all free of charge. Visitors may not access our uncatalogued material.

Research Fees
The Internet catalogue contains powerful research tools and may be used free of charge to handle simple and complex queries. If a researcher requires one of our volunteers to do research a fee may be payable, whether or not a positive result is found.

If a request is likely to require more than 5 minutes research, then a sliding scale of fees will be applied. The researcher should request an amount of time from the table below, wait until the request is acknowledged and the fee confirmed and then make the payment before work is started. Cheques drawn on British banks must be made payable to “The Mills Archive Trust”

Note

We cannot guarantee that we will find anything relevant. However, our researchers will check our uncatalogued material and our large library of mill reference books as well as catalogued reference items. We recommend for most queries that you request an initial search and report (up to 4 hours work, fee £200) and we will provide you with a summary of the sources checked and provide an estimate of the work required for a comprehensive study.

For the most rapid service you should use this request form and wait until you receive an email acknowledgment and Paypal invoice to pay by credit card through our secure website.

If you wish to pay by cheque, please send a cheque for £200.00, made payable to the Mills Archive Trust, with details of your request stipulating "2-4 hours research" to the address below. Please provide an email address

Note that if copies of images or documents are required on CD or as prints, an additional charge will be made to cover production costs and if necessary copyright fees. For our latest tariff click here

All correspondence should be directed to info@millarchive.com
or
Dr RF Cookson,
Chairman of the Trustees
The Mills Archive Trust
Watlington House,
44 Watlington St
Reading RG1 4RJ