Staffordshire Archives & Heritage write to let us know that…

The City Central Library building in Hanley has been sold by the City Council and Stoke on Trent City Archives is moving to a new home at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery just next door. This will bring together the City’s Archive and Museum collections under one roof for the first time. The move, also for the first time, brings together all our collections (archives, local studies and potteries library) in one purpose-built strongroom.

In preparation for the move all our collections need to be carefully packaged by the Archives staff and volunteers. This is a huge task and with regret we will have to reduce our on-site services temporarily. From the week beginning 5 December we will be open to the public on Fridays only, from 9.30 until 4pm. This will reduce further from the week beginning 9 January from which time we will only be open for urgent legal enquiries that cannot be resolved with photocopying.

We are very conscious that due to the pandemic and then reduced staffing levels you have already had a period of reduced access. We very much regret limiting services again but we hope you will bear with us during this challenging but exciting time for the City Archives. You can follow all the stages of the move on our Stoke on Trent City Archives is moving website at: www.stokearchivesismoving.uk

The new reading room in the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery is due to open later in 2023. At that point we very much look forward to welcoming you to our new home. Throughout this period, apart from a short period around the dates of the moves, we will continue our remote services; answering enquiries and providing copying services. During this period you will still be able to use FindMyPast and Ancestry.com in Stoke-on-Trent City Libraries. Keele University Special Collections and Archives has a very good local studies collection and access to some newspapers. Staffordshire Libraries (including Newcastle under Lyme) offer free access to British Newspaper Archive online.

In due course, we will host a meeting at the City Archives so stakeholders can see the plans and ask any questions. If you would be interested in attending, please contact stoke.archives@stoke.gov.uk