The National Archives (United Kingdom)
| Yr Archifau Cenedlaethol (Welsh) | |
| Non-ministerial department overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 2003 |
| Jurisdiction | |
| Headquarters | Kew, Richmond 51°28′52″N 0°16′46″W / 51.48111°N 0.27944°W |
| Employees | 582 |
| Annual budget | £46.2 million (2022–23) |
| Ministers responsible |
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| Non-ministerial department executive |
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| Parent department | Department for Culture, Media and Sport |
| Child agencies |
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| Key document | |
| Website | nationalarchives |
The National Archives (TNA; Welsh: Yr Archifau Cenedlaethol) is the official national archive of the UK Government, and for England and Wales. The institution holds documents dating back over 1,000 years, and is open to the public and free to visit.
The National Archives is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its parent department is the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. There are separate national archives at the National Records of Scotland and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
The National Archives was formerly four separate organisations: the Public Record Office (PRO), the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) and His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). The Public Record Office still exists as a legal entity, as the enabling legislation has not been modified, and documents held by the institution thus continue to be cited by many scholars as part of the PRO. Since 2008, TNA has also hosted the former UK Statute Law Database, now known as legislation.gov.uk, and since 2022 has hosted a case law database for decisions from superior courts of record since 2003, called "Find Case Law".
The department is the responsibility of Fiona Twycross, Baroness Twycross, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Museums, Heritage and Gambling, a minister in His Majesty's Government.