News and events from Shropshire Archives

Time for a change...

Closure period

Shropshire Archives will be closed to visitors from Monday 1 June 2009 for essential work to remodel the public spaces. This will improve the welcome for visitors by opening up the reception area and creating more circulation and display space.

The Service will reopen on Wednesday 8 July 2009 following the new pattern of opening hours (see below).

During the closed period, the service can still be contacted:
By telephone - 01743 255 350
Or by email - archives@shropshire.gov.uk

Archives staff and volunteers from Shropshire Family History Society will also be on hand, providing a ‘Help Desk’ dealing with family and local history sources in the Reference Library, Castle Gates, Shrewsbury:

Help Desk Opening Times:
Wednesdays: 10.00 - 13.00
Thursdays: 10.00 - 13.00

New opening times

From 8 July 2009 Shropshire Archives will change its opening hours.

Sundays Closed
Mondays Closed
Tuesdays Closed
Wednesdays 10.00 - 17.00
Thursdays 10.00 - 20.00 (original documents must be ordered by 17.45)
Fridays 10.00 - 17.00
Saturdays 10.00 - 16.00 (original documents must be ordered by 15.00 Friday)

These changes will allow Shropshire Archives to allocate resources to support the development of on-line services, which are seeing a huge increase in demand. During the times the service is closed to the public we will also be able to provide enhanced opportunities for learning activities, including school visits, and volunteering, which supports our cataloguing and conservation work.

For further details download the files below or contact Mary McKenzie, County Archivist telephone 01743 255 356 email mary.mckenzie@shropshire.gov.uk.

Transfer of District Authority records

From June 2009, most of our District Authority records from 1835 to 1974 will be housed at an outstore and will need to be ordered in advance. Records ordered by Saturday will be available to view in our Search Room from the following Wednesday. The collections which will be affected are DA2-DA5, DA7-DA34, DA41-DA45. Details of these records are available on our on-line catalogue (via the link below to 'Searching our Collections')

Guided Summer Walks and Talks in Shropshire

Discover Shropshire with the Friends of Shropshire Archives and the Shropshire Archaeological Service by joining one of their summer events. A downloadable pdf version of the leaflet can be found at the bottom of the page.

Some People Are Gay. Get Over It!
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in Shropshire

A resource for teachers and students, Key Stages 3, 4 and beyond

This MLA West Midlands funded project brought together a teacher from the William Brookes School in Much Wenlock with Shropshire Archives. The resulting resource uses archive material from the collections of Shropshire Archives, along with newly gathered video interviews with local people, to look at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, both in Shropshire, and in its wider national context.

Its aim is to support the National Curriculum in encouraging discussion of, and respect for, difference and diversity and to provide an innovative approach to combating homophobic and transphobic bullying.

Combining historical sources with debate of very current issues, this is a cross-curricular resource, relevant to PSHE, Citizenship, History, RE and English. It includes case studies relating to Shropshire people, exercises and worksheets to use with students, plus helplines and contact details for many support organizations.

A copy of the resource has been distributed to all Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire secondary schools.

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