A Moving Story - Take a Virtual Tour of our New Centres!
Construction of our new centres is well underway, on track for opening in 2026. Cheshire Archives Chester is being built on the site of the former Enterprise Centre on Lightfoot Street, Hoole, and Cheshire Archives Crewe is being built between the Lifestyle Centre and Memorial Square in the town centre.
At Cheshire Archives we look after 900 years of Cheshire’s history, and the new centres will open up these collections to a whole new audience. Both buildings will feature exhibition and event spaces, new research rooms, workspace for staff and volunteers, and much-needed space to store the archives in environmentally stable conditions. They will give people opportunities to explore their past in all sorts of different ways - from research and talking to expert staff and volunteers, to a broad programme of exhibitions and events.
The exhibitions and events have started even before the buildings have opened. This week we displayed some historic recipes from our collections in Crewe Market Hall, and one example - Raffald’s Herb Pie – was proclaimed by the Sandbach Town Crier. Some of the team had given the recipe a try, so market visitors really could have a taste of history!
To mark the progress made so far our architects, Ellis Williams, have created a virtual ‘fly through’ inside each of the new buildings. These narrated videos give a flavour of how Cheshire Archives Crewe and Cheshire Archives Chester will look when finished, and we’re delighted to share them with you now. We hope you’re as excited about the new centres as we are!
