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Historical artifacts return to Carmarthenshire as new archive opens

12 Jul 2022 3 minute read
The new Carmarthenshire Archive

The new £2.2 million Carmarthenshire Archives officially open on Wednesday in a purpose-built facility at the rear of Carmarthen Library.

The state-of-the-art accommodation is home to an extensive collection of historic documents that date from the 13th century to the present day and includes various records, maps, books, photographs, videos and sound recordings.

With its energy-efficient design the building minimises the energy required to maintain storage conditions and ensures that the collection remains protected even in the event of a power outage.

The new building includes a search room with a map table and seating to accommodate 10 people , two strongrooms with specialist shelving, a conservation suite equipped for digital preservation, an isolation room, cataloguing rooms and a cleaning room for inspection of newly arrived documents.

Carmarthenshire’s archive collections have been held outside the county since 2014 whilst the building work was underway.

The council received funding of £120,000 from the Welsh Government’s Transformation Capital Grant Scheme towards the new facility.

Invited guests including representatives from Carmarthen Town Council and the Friends of Carmarthen Archives were given a grand tour of the new building before it opens to the public.

They had the opportunity to view some of rare and interesting items on display including the Carmarthen Gaol Felon’s Register from 1844 – 1871, which was one of the earliest jail registers using photos for ID, and a Llanelli register of ships between 1824-1836 – interestingly the first ship in the register was built in Carmarthen and wholly owned by a female. Although women were often part owners, investing for a share of the profits, whole ownership was unusual.

Cartoons

Also on display was a selection of cartoons from the 1980s by Dorrien, a cartoonist famed for his portraits of sporting figures and political cartoons, many of which were published in the Western Mail and South Wales Echo, and the county council’s first computer from 1966. Acquired for the treasury department, County Hall had to have an extra electricity supply to cope with the extra load needed!

Children from Ysgol Y Dderwen have also been tasked with designing a plaque to commemorate the opening of the new service, which will be unveiled during ‘Explore Your Archives Week’ in November, when there will be a number of activities and events taking place.

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Leisure, Culture and Tourism Cllr Gareth John said: “I am delighted that our archives collection is now back where it belongs in Carmarthenshire, full of fascinating stories of people and places, a wealth of material in available to the public for study and research.

“This new building has been purpose-built to the highest standards and will make sure our archives are protected from all potential risks of damage or loss.

“It boasts spacious and modern accommodation providing comfortable and secure access to the collection for everyone.”

Admission to the search room is free, but visitors need to book an appointment at least 24 hours prior to attending.

To find out more about the archives including how to book an appointment please visit here…….


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Phil
Phil
2 years ago

I take it that Gen Picton will be suitably airbrushed from the records.

Dr John Ball
Dr John Ball
2 years ago
Reply to  Phil

Slavery is and was wrong. Full Stop. The question however has to be asked; where do you stop once you start airbrushing parts of history which you don’t like? You forget that over decades attempts have been made to airbrush our history; indeed many schools and colleges still don’t teach the history of our nation – good or bad. And our language? There is a sentence embedded in the articles that comprise the Acts of Union; that the Welsh language be “utterly exturped,” followed by the notorious “Welsh Not.” If these had been successful we Welsh would have been airbrushed… Read more »

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