Wednesday 7th January 2009

FOMA Awarded Heritage Lottery Fund Grant!

	The Archives of Great Expectations: Heritage Lottery Fund Promotion Poster

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a grant of up to £154,500 to the Friends of Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre (FOMA) for an exciting new project which will make available for research for the first time the contents of 500 boxes of the Rochester City Archives – the so-called Archives of Great Expectations.

On Wednesday, 7th January the Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre (MALSC), hosted a special reception to celebrate this extraordinary boost to Medway’s heritage.  Several rare and rarely seen documents relating to the history of the area were also on display.

The Rochester City Archives form the biggest archival collection in the Medway area and access to it will enhance the understanding of many aspects of British history.  Rochester and its Diocese has long associations with London and the famous author, Charles Dickens, who lived at nearby Gad’s Hill, included the Kentish city in many of his works. The archives cover the period 1227 to 1974 and include maps, photographs, building plans, heraldic and manorial records, records of land use, title deeds, rate books, records of trade and industry, public health, and transport. In short, a gold-mine for historians.

Cllr Howard Doe, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Services said, “Some of the most important archives in the country are held in this collection, relating to Rochester, the second oldest Norman town in England. This is great news for the Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre and for the people of Medway, especially students and history enthusiasts, who will benefit from this project when it is completed.”

The project is expected to last around three years and will be led by a professional archivist, appointed by Medway Council, and two volunteer teams of 16. The volunteers will be selected from local enthusiasts, including members of FOMA, and those currently working on the Victoria County History of Kent, England’s Past for Everyone project, also supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and coordinated by the University of Greenwich. The teams will sort, arrange and catalogue the collection, and identify documents requiring conservation and repair. 

Eventually the catalogue to the collection will be accessible online to historians worldwide on MALSC’s well known website, CityArk, http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/, and via a link from the University of Greenwich’s website of the Victoria County History of Kent, England’s Past for Everyone project. Volunteers will also mount touring exhibitions, produce interpretation packs and CDRoms.

FOMA Chairman, Tessa Towner commented:  “We are absolutely thrilled that in just two years we have achieved so much for the Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre, and the award from the Heritage Lottery Fund is a fantastic bonus in these tough financial times. The project to conserve, catalogue and publish the Rochester City Archives will enhance everyone’s understanding of our history and the heritage of north Kent and the Medway area.”