Oxfordshire History Centre

As the collections grew, storage space in County Hall was augmented by a series of remote stores.

However, by the 1990s increasing visitor numbers as well as an acute need for more storage space meant that a new building was essential.

The Diocese of Oxford offered the County Council the redundant parish church of St Luke in Cowley and this building, built at the behest of Lord Nuffield as a place of worship for the workers in his Cowley factories was converted with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, Paul Getty and other donors.

[7][citation needed] Catalogues can be accessed online on Heritage Search,[8] Picture Oxon,[9] National Archives Discovery,[10] or in the searchroom.

[citation needed] On site, the records are cared for by are professionally qualified archivists, a conservator, and local studies librarians.