VCH Explore provides free access to reliable local history materials, produced by academics and volunteers. Photographs, paintings, drawings, maps, text, transcribed documents and audio files are organised thematically. The material was researched as part of the Victoria County History and its HLF-funded England's Past for Everyone project. Site created, edited and hosted by staff of Institute of Historical Research, University of London.

The nine main Themes will lead you to individual items on buildings, people, sites, events, objects and documents. Each Theme is divided into Sub-themes, which provide the context for all the Items grouped within them and displayed as clickable thumbnails. The nine Themes are based on those used in the 'Big Red Books' of Victoria County History, a comprehensive collection of parish and town histories from original documents, and ‘the greatest publishing project in local history'.