The City of Westminster Archives Centre, part of Westminster Council, incorporates over 5 kilometres of shelving, houses extensive collections relating to Westminster past and present.

The archives are generally administrative records that are selected for permanent preservation. Records were either inherited from the Council or acquired by gift, purchase or deposit on indefinite loan from churches, estates, businesses, schools etc. They date mainly from the 16th century onwards.

Archives are special collections that house the records of organisations, governments, businesses, etc. representing our culture, community or personal identity. They also contain collections of personal papers of individuals or families, photographs, pamphlets, sketches, drawings, maps, plans, newspaper clippings etc. All these materials have been selected for preservation either because of their importance to the body in question or for their broader historical value.