About our service
Volunteers | User Group | Service Charter | Collection Policy | Preservation Policy | Public Task Statement
The Cheshire Archives & Local Studies service identifies, collects and cares for archives and publications that are the evidence of Cheshire communities’ lives past and present. We deliver access for all to our collections for information, learning and enjoyment and work to make sure archives survive so that future generations will be able to do the same.
We are a shared service of Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East Councils.
The service is also responsible for delivering the archives service for Warrington and Halton boroughs.
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Cheshire's archives: a story shared
Central to our vision for Cheshire’s archives is providing new premises for the Archives service, its activities and the collections, and bringing collections closer to people. The project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and fits closely with their aims and ambitions for people, heritage and communities that have been developed with input from National Lottery players.
We have been awarded a development phase grant of £544,000 to progress our project to create two new history centres in Chester and Crewe.
The grant will help fund the development of plans for the new centres in more detail and pilot a range of activities across both boroughs to engage people with their histories through archives.
A further grant application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2021 will, if successful, fund the delivery of the project.
Latest update
Over the course of the summer we have continued to work on the development of the project. The team have been working hard on pilot digital activities and support for community history groups, including
- ‘Hidden Histories’ online exhibitions celebrating LGBT+ and Black History Month
- Our popular ‘Horrid Handwriting’ skills course renewed and refreshed and delivered online
- Community Archives Skills course delivered to Frodsham and District History Society in three live online modules
We’ve also been working with teams from Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester Councils, together with our design team led by Ellis Williams Architects on the next stage of designing our proposed new centres.
As part of our new service it will be important to use Cheshire’s archives to tell Cheshire’s stories linking our communities to the county and to the places they live. We have appointed Interpretation Planners Bright White to help us develop plans for how we do this.
Finally, we’ve appointed a Digital Archives Officer to tackle the issue of digital preservation – producing a plan for how we make sure archives which only take a digital form are preserved and made accessible in the future.
Frequently asked questions relating to the move.
This website is run in partnership between Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East Councils.
