Depositing records with Edinburgh City Archives

Edinburgh City Archives is always keen to acquire historical records relating to the City of Edinburgh Council area which fall within the scope of its collecting policy. These may be records of any age and in different formats such as paper, parchment or photographic images. 

The Archives, however, reserves the right to decline any material which is considered to fall outwith this collecting policy. We will also weed out unwanted material from any potential deposits, either returning these or disposing of them as the depositor advises.

Deposit agreements

Records can be offered either as a gift or as a loan.  A gift is an outright donation to the Archives in which ownership of the records is transferred to the City of Edinburgh Council and its successor bodies.  A loan is a type of arrangement in which ownership remains with the depositor while the records themselves are transferred into the custody of Edinburgh City Archives.  Both types are recorded as formal, legally binding documents and more details of both are laid out in the Deposit Agreement (available on this page to download). Please contact us if you require further explanation or help.