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Staffordshire History Centre

National Lottery funding secured for Staffordshire History Centre

Keep up to date with all the latest news about the Staffordshire History Centre Project on our microsite: Staffordshire History Centre

 

Over a thousand years of Staffordshire’s history is to be brought to life in an exciting new heritage project thanks to National Lottery funding.

Bringing together three incredible collections, from the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service, the County Museum and the William Salt Library, the project will create exciting and imaginative ways to connect Staffordshire people and their stories.

Staffordshire County Council and its partner the William Salt Library Trust, has received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £3,964,000 towards the Staffordshire History Centre project.

Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project will include an extension to the existing Staffordshire Record Office on Eastgate Street in Stafford incorporating the William Salt Library. The Library will be restored and will retell the story of the building as well as William Salt and his collection. A modern glazed link between the Library and the record office will create a new entrance and permanent exhibition space to showcase the collections.

In addition to modern reading areas, and research labs the centre will also allow people to discover more about their family or local history by visiting exhibitions, taking part in events and family activities.

Extra strong rooms will provide space for a further 55 years of collections and a new learning offer will be created for schools with courses for students and adult learners. The centre will be supported by a programme of touring exhibitions and targeted projects to reach all communities across the county.

Commenting on the award, Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture at Staffordshire County Council said: “We are all thrilled with the funding award which will allow us to preserve and promote the wonderful history of our great county and people.

“We’re incredibly proud of our history and amazing collections, and we want to be able to share them and be able to protect them for future generations to enjoy. Not only will the project help to get more people interested in our history but it will also give us a brand new heritage attraction which will support the recovery of Stafford town centre.”

Staffordshire Archives and Heritage collections are nationally important stretching back over 1000 years. The archives are designated outstanding including rare items such as Anglo-Saxon charters confirming the foundation of Burton Abbey and a letter written on the eve of the American revolution.

The museum collections include the Douglas Hayward puppet collection and carriage collection both of national significance. The William Salt Library is an outstanding rare book and manuscript collection amassed by Victorian collector William Salt whose family originated in Stafford. The Georgian Library building held the collection for over a 100 years and has its own history as a fine town house, a doctor’s surgery and a shop before becoming a Library.

Mithra Tonking, Chair of the William Salt Library Trust added: “The Trustees are delighted by the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s generous grant towards the creation of the Staffordshire History Centre.

“The project will see the development of a fascinating new town centre attraction, preserves and creates a new future for our much loved historic building and will make our unique library collection better known and more widely available.”

The total cost of the project is £7.1m with match funding of £3.184m already raised by the partnership including Staffordshire County Council funding, grants, donations from local organisations and Friends, and in-kind contributions from volunteers.

Further updates will be posted on this page. Alternatively, please sign up to our service newsletter

Preparation work starts

Since the announcement of the award of £3.9m from the Heritage Fund in July 2021 the Archive and Heritage team have been preparing to start the project.

This includes getting the William Salt Library collection ready to move from the Library building in Eastgate Street to a temporary home. The collection has been in situ for over a 100 years so as you can imagine a move like this involves a lot of preparation. Work has now begun with staff and volunteers cleaning, packaging and completing some remedial conservation work to ensure a safe and clean transfer of the collection. To speed the work up access to the collection will close from 1 December 2021. Please see the William Salt Library Planning a Visit page for more details.

If you are interested in volunteering to help prepare the collection for the big move please contact Staffordshire Record Office: staffordshire.record.office@staffordshire.gov.uk 

From March 2022 the Archives and Heritage team will be moving from Staffordshire Record Office to a temporary base. This is to enable preparatory surveys to be completed prior to the construction work for the Staffordshire History Centre. For more information about the temporary closure and interim service please see Staffordshire Record Office planning a visit

Staffordshire History Centre Project Update – Autumn / Winter 2022

Since safely moving collections into storage in the Spring, staff have been busy working behind the scenes on the Staffordshire History Centre project.

Our touring exhibition A Case for the Ordinary, which explores the historical experience of mental health patients, opens at The Nicholson Museum & Art Gallery in Leek on 7 January 2023. Our smaller pop-up exhibitions are touring libraries across Staffordshire.

Over autumn and winter, we have run a varied programme of events and activities including guided tours, study days and object handing; public programmes will continue in the Spring of 2023.

A network has been established to support local museums, societies and groups that record or share Staffordshire’s history and heritage.

Four new project staff have been recruited and are working on different areas of engagement and collections care. They will be developing new exhibitions, a learning programme and working in partnership with community groups.

Over 60 volunteers are supporting the project through several roles including research, conservation, digitisation and supporting public events. New volunteer roles will be shared as the project progresses.

Please come back to this page for further updates, sign up to our newsletter or follow us on social media.

Construction work to start on new Staffordshire History Centre in Early 2023

Work to build a brand new £5.4m history centre for Staffordshire is set to start in early 2023. Pave Aways Ltd have been awarded the contract to build the new centre with construction work due to start in early 2023.

Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture at Staffordshire County Council said: “We’re justifiably proud of our history and wonderful collections and we want to be able to share them and be able to protect them for future generations to enjoy.

“We’re all incredibly excited about the project and it’s great to have the start confirmed for the new year.  Not only will the project give us a brand-new heritage attraction for the county but it will bring together three amazing collections from the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, the County Museum and the William Salt Library.

You can find the full news story here: Work to start on new Staffordshire History Centre in January 2023 - Staffordshire County Council Newsroom

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