In August 2011 Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for just over £500,000 to help acquire, catalogue and make available the archives of the Lacock Abbey estate, which have been on deposit with Wiltshire and Swindon Archives since 1991. The owner needs to sell the collection and the Archives are their preferred purchaser. This extensive archive, occupying 100 boxes on 35 metres of shelving, documents the Talbot, Davenport and Feilding families and their estates from the 12^th-20^th centuries. It includes estate records, personal papers, naval records, and material relating to the East India Company, amongst others.
Map of Lacock, 1764
Ref: 2664

These records are very important for local history, and the family history of those who were tenants of the estate, as well as for the history of the owners themselves. Lacock itself is a very special village which has remained virtually unchanged for decades, thanks to the generous gift of the village by the Talbot family, to the National Trust. Since family connections and interests rarely remain within one county, the range of this collection extends to other parts of the country, including Shropshire and Worcestershire, and, even, overseas. However, material within a collection is often so inextricably linked it is not always feasible or appropriate to split it up among archive repositories. Any large estate or family archive is like a complex jigsaw puzzle – the pieces of it interlink and it is vitally important to keep this collection in public hands and to ensure it is not split up at auction and its historical value diminished.

This month (December 2011) we have just heard that our application has gone through to the next stage, where it will be developed into a detailed project. This is very good news – it means the HLF believe this is a worthwhile project – however there is still a lot of work to be done. The aim of the project is to make this wonderful collection more accessible to the public by cataloguing it, repairing any fragile material, and finding innovative ways to promote its use. One way of doing this will be through the creation of a website optimised for mobile phone use, which will not just include information about the archives but also images and oral history recordings of reminiscences by local residents. There will be a range of community participation activities to support the creation of content and to promote the collection’s use. There will also be separate on-line material specially designed for schools to use. The project will need full community support and lots of volunteer time if it is to be successful.

If you would like to get involved we would love to hear from you – all are welcome to attend  a public meeting on Thursday 26 January 2012, at 4 pm, at Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, Cocklebury Road, Chippenham SN15 3QN.

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