Latest News from Cheshire Archives and Local Studies
Welcome
Welcome to our latest newsletter! Thank you for agreeing to receive regular updates from us. If you think our news would interest anyone else, they can subscribe here (it is just as easy to unsubscribe).
Cheshire's archives: a story shared on film
Listen to Archives and Local Studies Manager Paul Newman talk about what our project means for us and you, and the future of the service, available on our Facebook page.
Cheshire's archives: a story shared Facebook page
Archives team visits the Crewe site
In July we had the opportunity to visit the Crewe site and see how work is progressing on our new centre. It was great to see it taking shape and get a feel for our new home. We also visited Crewe Heritage Centre and met Crewe Town Council's heritage officer who walked us through historic Crewe and visited the current Family History Society HQ - a brilliant introduction for the whole team to Crewe's heritage.
Order a Local History Loan Box for your school from late September!
We’re excited to launch our new local history loan boxes, developed by Cheshire Archives in collaboration with Cheshire Education Library Service.
These boxes will give students the opportunity to explore real life archive documents and come with ready-to-deliver lessons designed to build historical knowledge and skills. Available to book from late September through the Cheshire Education Library Service website, the loan boxes bring local history to life in Cheshire.
We can’t wait to see them in action in schools across the county.
Cheshire Education Library Service
Designing a new home for Cheshire’s community memory
Join us for Heritage Open Day events with Paul Newman, our Archives and Local Studies Manager, and Tim Brown from Ellis Williams Architects. They will be talking about the design of the new Cheshire Archives centres in Crewe and Hoole, set to open in 2026, and how this will improve access to Cheshire's archive and local studies collections and ensure their preservation for future generations.
Crewe event information and booking
Chester event information and booking
Literary Cheshire: a tale in five archives
On Friday 26 September, especially for people with visual impairments, we will journey through over 500 years of the county’s literary history. From illuminated manuscripts to the rise of the modern novel, technological advancements to education reform, we will explore the historical context of five archives and their significance to Cheshire, including this portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell. A detailed physical description of each item will accompany each story.
This free, drop-in event will begin at 2pm at Macclesfield Library and last approximately one and a half hours, including a break with refreshments provided. Please do contact us for any further information you may need.
Contact us
Leighton Hospital – Your hospital, your history
Join us at the Crewe Heritage Fair at Crewe Heritage Centre on Saturday 20 September 10am-4.30pm and help us capture the story of Leighton Hospital. Pop by to see the team from Cheshire Archives to share your memories, whether you’re staff, patient, visitor or community member. Take a look at some of the records we hold, learn about our ‘Living Memory’ oral history project and help us create a timeline of events for the current hospital before it begins its next chapter.
Crewe Heritage Fair
Help choose our Sandbach Gems
Newsletter subscribers will already be aware that, over the past few months, we’ve been asking for your support deciding which archive Gems will appear on our new website. But did you also know that Gems will include film clips provided by the North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University? Below is a link to a survey featuring clips from three films of Sandbach and we’d like you to decide which should be selected for Gems. Please help us with your thoughts and reflections upon the people, places and events shown in the films.
Sandbach Gems survey
Our latest stories shared
Read about our ongoing maps project, explaining the numerous improvements we’re making to our Ordnance Survey maps collection, and how you will be able to access the maps when we move to our new centres.
The Collections Story - Maps on the Move
We recently welcomed four students to Cheshire Archives for some work experience. This is an account of their time with us - it includes some of the feedback they gave us, which was a valuable insight into young people’s perspectives on our collections.
A Volunteering Story – “it’s so important to make history more accessible to everybody!”
Read the first in a series of blogs about our Journeying to Cheshire project, making sure the voices of people who move to Cheshire from other countries can be heard. It explains how we’ve built on work started 2011, identifying and recording people’s stories.
Archives in Action - Journeying to Cheshire
Searchroom news
Our amber-tinted Searchroom image indicates that in-person access to the collections is now closed.
Although the Record Office closed to the public on 8 August our online services are not affected, and you are still able to order copies of documents and request research services (until the image turns red at the start of 2026 to indicate full closure!). Libraries across Cheshire will continue to provide access to local history books and maps as well as providing free access to family history websites.
Visiting us