Archive

From Police Stations and Local Government Offices to Civic Centres and Post Offices – Public Architecture is generally designed to embody institutional values and responsibilities as well as pride in public services and more recently a greater sense of community and cohesion. From the grandiose to the more modest, this group of buildings reflects who...

  What do you picture when you think of a typical Victorian father?  The stereotype is often someone stern, severe and distant.  That may have been true of some Victorian fathers, but the reality was often quite different.  There were plenty of kind Victorian fathers who were devoted to their children, spent time with them...

Earlier in the year we posted a blog ‘Who put Bella in the wych elm‘ as part of our Monthly Mysteries series.  In it we hinted that the link with Clara Bauerle, the German singer and actress, was one which was still being actively explored.  We can now reveal that the researcher who was following...

One of the unexpected surprises in my work as Book and Paper Conservator at The Hive is revealing hidden materials that have been used in the construction of bound volumes. Termed ‘Printer’s Waste’ this material forms part of a long tradition of bookbinders using material to hand when a book is constructed.  The process can...

‘Finish your articles re the Wych elm crime by all means. They are interesting to your readers, but you will never solve the mystery. The one person who could give the answer is now beyond the jurisdiction of the earthly courts.’ In 1953 ‘Anna’ of Claverley wrote those intriguing words in a letter to journalist...

  It is 90 years since Britain’s only General Strike, an event referred to in a number of archive collections held here at Worcestershire Archive Service and in the local newspapers. The strike began with the coal miners before spreading to other sectors, but only lasted nine days. Within the West Mercia Police archive (BA13870),...

What are Descriptive registers? Descriptive registers give information on a police officer’s period of service.  The registers can include information on previous public service such as time with another police force or in the armed services, together with pay rates and the stations in which they worked.  Details of promotions, transfers and reasons for leaving...

Conservation work has begun on a series of volumes relating to Police records of Worcestershire.  Thanks to a grant from the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust, conservation work will be undertaken on approximately 70 volumes that are currently in a ‘Poor’ or ‘Unusable’ condition.  The West Mercia Police Authority archive includes the administrative and operational records...

Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service staff are currently engaged in a 15 month joint project with Shropshire Archives to make available the archives of West Mercia Police deposited with them.  Some of the work involves sorting, assessing and listing material transferred from the Police Headquarters at Hindlip.  Other work involves retroconverting or enhancing lists and...

We are delighted to announce that Worcestershire Archives are one of the lucky repositories to be awarded funding from the 2014 round of the National Cataloguing Grant programme. Each year the Cataloguing Grants Programme supports the cataloguing of collections that need external funding to provide access to their content. The 2014 round received applications for over £1.8...