Welcome to Cheltenham Local History Society

Welcome and thank you for looking at our website. Here you will find a wealth of ideas and information about the abundant and varied history of our town for you to enjoy.

The free resources available include many articles from our annual journals, a collection of local newspapers, street directories, written records, research papers, newsletters and publications. Then there is information about our projects, walks and visits, and our popular talks programme.

We are also active in the community, positively promoting local history with our input to The Wilson, our support for Gloucestershire Archives, and input to Cheltenham’s Heritage Action Plan.

We can help with enquiries about the history of Cheltenham and its inhabitants.

For general queries about our Society, or to contact the committee, please click below.

LATEST NEWS

Research and Display Event 7th April – all welcome

St. Luke’s Hall, St Luke’s Place, Cheltenham GL53 7HP, Tuesday 7th April 2026 from 9:30am to noon. Free admittance, tea and coffee, varied displays about the history of Cheltenham and the surrounding area, second-hand book stall. Do come and join us, a warm welcome guaranteed.

Membership

Become a member today…

Events

Local history talks, Summer walks and visits, Local History afternoons…

Publications

The Journal, Newsletters, Chronologies and books…

Database

Newspapers, directories, transcriptions & research articles…

Resources

Library, Donated Books Shop, walks and website links…

Enquiries

Ask us about the history of Cheltenham and its inhabitants…

Projects

Victoria County History (VCH), Volunteer Group, Oral History Recordings…

Southtown

Our sister website with illustrated historical commentaries on shops and businesses…

Our banner image is Thomas Robins’ 1748 West Prospect of the Spaw & Town of Cheltenham and we are grateful to Alex Clark for granting permission to use it. Steve Blake’s article on page 11 of our November 2021 Newsletter explains its origins.

We are grateful to Jill Waller and Sue Rowbotham for allowing us to use views of Cheltenham from their collections.