Archives of the Moravian Church - British Province
Over the last 300 years+ the British Province of the Moravian Church has accumulated a considerable archival collection, consisting of approximately 400 boxes of material, as well as a library of around 6,000 printed books, which is housed in Moravian Church House, Muswell Hill, London.
What we hold in the Archives
The archival material consists of: records relating to certain congregations, particularly those that are no longer active; mission records, including material relating to the Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel (SFG); Synod minutes and resolutions, and records of the administrative bodies of the Province, the Moravian Union and Unitas Estates.
The library contains printed books relating to the history of the Church, both in Britain and abroad, biographies, Moravian hymn and tune books and theology. There are also a number of periodicals published by Provinces from all over the world.
Visiting the Archives
Entry to use the archive is free, although an appointment should be made in advance with the archivist at the address below, by either telephone or e-mail.
Any donations to the upkeep of the archive will be greatly appreciated.
Moravian Church House, 5 Muswell Hill, London N103TJ
Tel: 020 8883 3409
e-mail: archive@moravian.org.ukWhere to find us
The archive is situated at Moravian Church House in Muswell Hill, North London and is accessible by public transport.
From London main-line stations take the Underground to Finsbury Park (on the Victoria and Piccadilly Lines). Then, from Wells Terrace outside the station, take either the W3 or W7 bus to the bottom of Muswell Hill.
Moravian Church House, 5 Muswell Hill, London N103TJ
Opening Hours: The archive is open on Mondays and Tuesdays between 10.00am. and 4.30pm. Other days (excluding weekends) may be available upon request to the archivist.
Location Map
Supporting the Archives
There are a few ways in which you can help to support and become more involved with the Archives: volunteer work, financial donations to support the work, and donating collections.
Volunteer Work
We welcome the opportunity from people who would like to get more involved with the Archives and the Church’s history, and this could include projects such as:
Preservation of photographs, documents, books, etc.
Making digital images of our collection
Helping to identify photographs
Indexing church registers or other archives
Anyone who is interested in offering their time and expertise in a voluntary capacity should contact the Archives to discuss possible projects.
Friends of the Archive
Our library and archive are a unique resource and one that we are keen to improve and develop. Recent years have seen the installation of movable shelving in the basement archive, a humidity and temperature control system in the library and the repacking of the archival material in acid-free materials. Funding was obtained for a project archivist to catalogue the major collections still held in some congregations possession.
However, there is so much more to be done! As with many private collections, raising money is always a stumbling block.
The Friends of the Archive was formed to support the work of the library and archive mainly by raising funds for conservation work, the acquisition of new material, transcription of documents, purchase of specialist equipment etc., and to seek external sources of funding. We hope that the Friends of the Library will be able to offer support for the work of maintaining and making known the rich collection held at Moravian Church House.
Please join the Friends of the Library and pledge your support.
Donating Collections
The Archives collects anything that records the history of the Moravian Church: Church records and accounts, personal papers, publications, photographs, etc.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any relevant items that you would like to deposit with the Archives.
Useful Websites
Other Moravian Archives
For details about the Moravian Archives Network which serves as a central hub to guide people to archival facilities around the world please check their website at: https://moravianarchives.net/
For records of the Unity Archives please contact: Unitätsarchiv der Evangelische Brueder-Unitaet Zittauer Straße 24 02747 Herrnhut GERMANY Email: unitaetsarchiv@ebu.de Website: www.archiv.ebu.de
For records of the Northern Province of America (Bethlehem) and of the East West Indies Province please contact: Moravian Archives 41 West Locust Street Bethlehem Pennsylvania (PA) 18018 USA Email: info@moravianchurcharchives.org Website: www.moravianchurcharchives.org
For records of the Southern Province of America (Winston-Salem) please contact: Moravian Archives 457 S. Church Street Winston-Salem North Carolina (NC) 27101 USA Email: moravianarchives@mcsp.org Website: www.moravianarchives.org
For records of the Czech Province please contact: Archiv Jednoty bratrské Boženy Němcové 54/9 460 05 Liberec V Czech Republic Email: archiv@jbcr.cz Website: www.jbcr.cz/index.php/the-moravian-church-archive
For records of the Suriname Province please contact: Archiefmanager EBGS Stadszending Broedergemeente Burenstraat 17-19 Paramaribo Suriname Email: ebgsarchief@sr.net Website: https://archiefebgs.wordpress.com/
Reeves Library - Moravian College and Moravian Theological Seminary 1199 Monocacy St Bethlehem Pennsylvania (PA) 18018 USA Website: www.moravian.edu/reeves
The Moravian Music Foundation 457 South Church Street Winston-Salem North Carolina (NC) 27101 Website: www.moravianmusic.org
Moravian Archives held elsewhere in Britain
Records of the Moravian Church at Bedford (St. Peters) please contact: Bedfordshire Archives and Record Service Borough Hall Cauldwell Street Bedford MK42 9AP Email: archive@bedford.gov.uk Website: http://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/ArchivesAndRecordOffice.aspx
Records of the Moravian Church at Bristol (Maudlin Street) please contact: Special Collections University of Bristol Library Tyndall Avenue Bristol BS8 1TJ Email: special-collections@bristol.ac.uk Website: www.bristol.ac.uk/library/special-collections/
Records of the Moravian Churches at Baildon, Gomersal, Horton, Lower Wyke, and Wellhouse please contact: West Yorkshire Archive Service (Bradford) Margaret McMillan Tower Prince’s Way Bradford BD1 1NN Email: archives@wyjs.org.uk Website: www.wyjs.org.uk/archive-service/
Records of the Methodist Archives and the Moravian Church Manuscripts (Libbey Collection) please contact: John Rylands University of Manchester Library: Special Collections 150 Deansgate Manchester M3 3EH Email: uml.special-collections@manchester.ac.uk Website: www.library.manchester.ac.uk/special-collections/
Digitised copies of the records of Moravian Churches in Ireland please contact: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) 2 Titanic Boulevard Titanic Quarter Belfast BT3 9HQ Email: proni@communities-ni.gov.uk Website: www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni
Other useful links
The Moravian Historical Society 214 E. Center Street Nazareth Pennsylvania (PA) 18064 USA Email: info@moravianhistory.org Website: www.moravianhistory.org
The Centre for Moravian Studies 60 W. Locust Street Bethlehem Pennsylvania (PA) 18018 USA Email: seminary@moravian.edu Website: www.moravianseminary.edu/center-moravian-studies
For further information regarding the archive, or to organise a visit, please contact the archivist via e-mail archive@moravian.org.uk