The Northumberland Archives Trust – a new initiative in support of the Archives Service
The Northumberland Archives Trust – a new initiative in support of the Archives Service
Northumberland Archives Trust is a charity set up in 2020 to support, promote and extend the vital work carried out by the Northumberland Archive Service. The Trust works alongside the Service to sustain, promote and enhance access to Northumberland’s Archives, the county’s most important records from throughout history, for the benefit of people everywhere, both now and in the future.
Northumberland has a rich history, much of it recorded, from the time of St Aidan and St. Cuthbert onwards. Forming part of the border between Scotland and England, kings and queens have quarreled and their armies have fought over it, and historic castles and abbeys litter the landscape. The records of long-established families and familiar industries – farming and fishing among them – tell of the struggle of people rich and poor to survive through tumultuous times.
More recently, mining and heavy industry have left their mark on the landscape as first, the industrial and later, the technological revolution have transformed society. These changes are captured in films and photographs as well as in manuscript, in print and in digital form. Altogether the County’s Archives already contain over six linear miles of records and are consulted by over five and a half thousand people each year.
Together these records make up a rich resource for students, those tracing their family history, and for academic and other researchers in the UK and abroad – in short, for anyone who wants better to understand the past and its relevance to today and tomorrow.
NRO 4118/01/151
Keeping and managing those archives in the care of Northumberland County Council is the responsibility of the Council itself. The Trust does not itself manage the Archives, nor does it raise funds and give grants for work which is properly the Council’s responsibility.
However, there are many valuable archives not yet held by the County Archives Service which need to be saved from destruction, and many of those which have been gathered in have yet to be catalogued and preserved. While the County Council, like other hard-pressed local authorities, does its best to help people to access the archives in its care, so much more could be done.
The Trust’s central aim is to improve access for everyone to Northumberland’s Archives. It does this by raising funds to ensure that primary source material is collected, catalogued and digitised, and thus made available for use by people both in the county and far beyond it. The Trust also works with the Archives Service to promote knowledge and understanding of the varied and colourful source material which is available.
NRO 4118/01/151 – Manuscript volume containing a formal and detailed description of the domains, boundaries, castles, tenants, free-holders, and rental values of the baronies of Wark and Wooler and other manors and towns in Northumberland including Chillingham, Newtown, North & South Middleton, Ewart, Doddington, Fenton, Nesbit, Howick, Hawkhill, Branton, Hetton, Ross, Ancroft, Felkington, Ryle, Cheswick, Tilmouth and Norham.
NRO 683/5/1
Established in 2020, our Trustees and supporters are drawn from throughout Northumberland and beyond it. We work closely with the County’s Senior Archivists and with other academic and professional advisers to ensure that the funds we raise are well-spent.
These are early days in the life of the Trust and organisational arrangements, including a dedicated web site, are just being put in place. However, our aim is to develop a range of approaches that will appeal to businesses and organisations interested in funding specific projects and to individual supporters who want to help the work of the Archives Service. For more information about the Trust and about how you can help support its work, please contact archivestrust@northumberlandarchives.com or visit https://northumberlandarchivestrust.org/.
Northumberland Archives Charitable Trust – Charity No. 1188637
NRO 683/5/1 – parchment roll of evidence examined at Holy Island showing how various individuals, including Raphe Brown (this image) was entitled to land on the Island. It explains how the land passed to them prior to this period and is dated 1 May 1592.
The Northumberland Archives Trust – a new initiative in support of the Archives Service
Northumberland Archives Trust is a charity set up in 2020 to support, promote and extend the vital work carried out by the Northumberland Archive Service. The Trust works alongside the Service to sustain, promote and enhance access to Northumberland’s Archives, the county’s most important records from throughout history, for the benefit of people everywhere, both now and in the future.
Northumberland has a rich history, much of it recorded, from the time of St Aidan and St. Cuthbert onwards. Forming part of the border between Scotland and England, kings and queens have quarreled and their armies have fought over it, and historic castles and abbeys litter the landscape. The records of long-established families and familiar industries – farming and fishing among them – tell of the struggle of people rich and poor to survive through tumultuous times.
More recently, mining and heavy industry have left their mark on the landscape as first, the industrial and later, the technological revolution have transformed society. These changes are captured in films and photographs as well as in manuscript, in print and in digital form. Altogether the County’s Archives already contain over six linear miles of records and are consulted by over five and a half thousand people each year.
Together these records make up a rich resource for students, those tracing their family history, and for academic and other researchers in the UK and abroad – in short, for anyone who wants better to understand the past and its relevance to today and tomorrow.
NRO 4118/01/151
Keeping and managing those archives in the care of Northumberland County Council is the responsibility of the Council itself. The Trust does not itself manage the Archives, nor does it raise funds and give grants for work which is properly the Council’s responsibility.
However, there are many valuable archives not yet held by the County Archives Service which need to be saved from destruction, and many of those which have been gathered in have yet to be catalogued and preserved. While the County Council, like other hard-pressed local authorities, does its best to help people to access the archives in its care, so much more could be done.
The Trust’s central aim is to improve access for everyone to Northumberland’s Archives. It does this by raising funds to ensure that primary source material is collected, catalogued and digitised, and thus made available for use by people both in the county and far beyond it. The Trust also works with the Archives Service to promote knowledge and understanding of the varied and colourful source material which is available.
NRO 4118/01/151 – Manuscript volume containing a formal and detailed description of the domains, boundaries, castles, tenants, free-holders, and rental values of the baronies of Wark and Wooler and other manors and towns in Northumberland including Chillingham, Newtown, North & South Middleton, Ewart, Doddington, Fenton, Nesbit, Howick, Hawkhill, Branton, Hetton, Ross, Ancroft, Felkington, Ryle, Cheswick, Tilmouth and Norham.
NRO 683/5/1
Established in 2020, our Trustees and supporters are drawn from throughout Northumberland and beyond it. We work closely with the County’s Senior Archivists and with other academic and professional advisers to ensure that the funds we raise are well-spent.
These are early days in the life of the Trust and organisational arrangements, including a dedicated web site, are just being put in place. However, our aim is to develop a range of approaches that will appeal to businesses and organisations interested in funding specific projects and to individual supporters who want to help the work of the Archives Service. For more information about the Trust and about how you can help support its work, please contact archivestrust@northumberlandarchives.com or visit https://northumberlandarchivestrust.org/.
Northumberland Archives Charitable Trust – Charity No. 1188637
NRO 683/5/1 – parchment roll of evidence examined at Holy Island showing how various individuals, including Raphe Brown (this image) was entitled to land on the Island. It explains how the land passed to them prior to this period and is dated 1 May 1592.