Plea to save priceless archives – before new councils come into force

Sep 23 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

A CHESHIRE councillor is calling for priceless historical documents to be saved before the county’s two new councils come into force.

County councillor Larry Toale has written to Cheshire County Council outlining the urgent need for a new archive and local studies service.

The five miles of archives, dat-ing back to the 11th century, range from recipes to cures for the plague to records of crime and punishment.

Growing at a rate of 75 metres a year, the archives are stored at various locations in the county.

Cllr Toale, as chair of the com-munity services scrutiny select committee, hopes the councils will fund a new £8m archive building.

He said: “The need for new premises has been an issue in my 20 years of being a member of the County Council. The archives con-tain priceless documents which are stored in several different lo-cations including the main Record Office in Chester and former prison cells under Chester Castle and the Winsford Salt Mine. They should really be under one roof.

“Around £8m is needed, a great deal of money when funds are also needed for core council functions.

“However I urge both new coun-cils to seriously consider my com-mittee’s plea, especially as the service is to be retained as it is for the whole of Cheshire including Warrington and Halton.”

A resolution has been sent to the county council’s executive calling for the issue to be raised with East and West Cheshire and Chester Shadow Councils as soon as possible.

It also welcomes the ongoing discussions with Chester City Council and the University of Chester to develop a consultants’ brief for new premises for the archives service and the Grosvenor Museum.

The executive recently adapt-ed a protocol raised by scrutiny committee member Councillor Dorothy Flude and arrange-ments and protocols have been put in place to ensure the many valuable historic documents and working docu-ments used in Cheshire are archived and not lost when the councils take over in April.

County Councillor Flude, said: “This legacy of research will be important for future generations.

“The County Council should also write to all school governing bodies to remind them of the his-torical significance of school records and log books and their need to be preserved by the Archives Service.

“Finally, I believe that we must ensure the people of east Cheshire have access to the archives, by exploiting information and communications technology from next year when the two unitary councils come into being. I believe it would be of considerable interest to anyone interested in all aspects of history.”

laurasharpe