In 1902 the Metropolitan Borough of Lewisham opened a library in the Manor House, Lee, and in 1960 the archives and local history department was set up in the same building. Since 1965 it has served the whole of the London Borough of Lewisham (the Deptford local history collection from Deptford Reference Library having been transferred to it).
The name was changed to the Local history centre in 1985. In October 1994 the centre moved to the new Lewisham library and changed its name to the local studies and archives centre. The centre is recognised as a place of deposit for public, diocesan, manorial and tithe records.
In 1966 the borough purchased the substantial collection of the antiquarian L.A.J. Baker, which included books, pamphlets, postcards, photographs and news cuttings.
The centre has custody of the borough's museum collection, awaiting the establishment of a Lewisham museum. Some archives, and the museum collection, are held in an out-store and can only be consulted by prior arrangement.