Cheshire’s archives service celebrates 75th anniversary

24 July 2023

Cheshire’s archives service is celebrating its 75th anniversary – as work moves ever closer to starting on two state-of-the-art new history centres. 

Cheshire Archives and Local Studies – a shared service of Cheshire East Council and Cheshire West and Chester Council – looks after the county’s unique and irreplaceable written and pictorial history. 

This month, celebrations will begin to mark 75 years of an archives service in Cheshire and will see the team sharing stories from the collections as it builds up to the anniversary of the day that Chester’s first archivist started work, on 1 October 1948.

It coincides with preparations gathering pace for the start of construction on two new history centres – one in Crewe, next to Memorial Square, and one in Chester – which will provide a long-term home for the archives and open up the collections to a whole new audience.

The project, called ‘Cheshire’s archives: a story shared’, is supported by £4.45m of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, made possible through money raised by National Lottery players.

The funding not only significantly contributes towards the new facilities but will help the service to fund a programme of new activities across the county until March 2027.

Councillor Jill Rhodes, lead for archives at Cheshire East Council, said: “The archives hold an absolute treasure trove of items that record the history of Cheshire and our communities over the last 900 years.“From photographs and parish records to letters from Royalty, newspapers, and military records, if you’ve never accessed the archives before, you would be amazed at what they hold.

“It is fantastic news that, during the 75th anniversary year of the service, we now have everything in place that is needed to be able to start work on these fantastic new facilities and open up the collections in a way that has not been possible before.”

Work to construct the new centres is expected to begin in early 2024. 

Over the next few months, the archives service will be using their Twitter and Instagram accounts to share stories from the archives, using the hashtag #75StoriesShared

Follow @CheshireRO on Twitter, or @Cheshire_archives on Instagram.

Councillor Louise Gittins, leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “Once the new buildings are completed, we can look forward to many future years protecting and sharing the rich history of the county. 

“The service has provided access to Cheshire’s heritage for 75 years, continually moving with the times. Looking to the future they will bring the unique and irreplaceable evidence of our communities lives past and present to a new and larger audience, using new community engagement programmes, two new centres and new technologies to connect people with heritage.”

Helen Featherstone, director, England, north at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, added: “As Cheshire Archives celebrates this remarkable milestone in their history, we are thrilled that we can support them in the next exciting chapter of their lifespan. 

“Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, we are delighted that the vast and rich collection of Cheshire Archives will allow more people to discover the fascinating heritage of the area.” 

The new history centre in Crewe is a key aspect of the wider regeneration programme for the town centre, which is focused on providing more reasons for people to visit and to stay for longer.

Alongside the centre, a further project will extend the current public space around Memorial Square and improve pedestrian and cycle links to the south of the town centre.Once finished, there will be a new car park and a new two-storey entrance to the Magistrates’ Courts.

The works are supported by the government’s Future High Streets Fund and Towns Fund.

A second and final phase of public realm works is planned to be delivered following construction of the history centre. This project is also supported by the Towns Fund.