Preparations to open archives base under way
PREPARATIONS are under way to open the new Carmarthenshire Archives building, with the first collection arriving from storage in recent days.
Carmarthenshire’s archive collections have been held outside the county since 2014 while building work was undertaken on the £2.2m archives building at the rear of Carmarthen public library.
One of the first items to return is the historic Vaughan Pedigree, a family tree document which dates back to the 17th century detailing the ancestry of Sir Richard Vaughan from royal roots including Hywel Dda, Roderick the Great and William the Conqueror.
Vaughan was a Welsh soldier, peer and politician, initially entering the House of Commons as MP for Carmarthenshire in 1624, a seat he held until 1629, when King Charles I decided to rule without Parliament for 11 years.
Vaughan was knighted in 1626 and after inheriting the estates and titles of his father in 1634, he retired to the life of a country gentleman in South Wales.
The outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642 disturbed his peace, and after being courted by both king and Parliament, he declared as a Royalist.
He raised troops for the king and took control of the southern Welsh counties on behalf of the Crown, for which he was rewarded with titles and responsibilities.
Over the next few months hundreds of historical records will make their way back to Carmarthenshire into the state-of-the-art accommodation, with the complete collection expected to be returned and the facility open in late spring.
The building boasts one of the highest-performing structures in the country.
With its energy-efficient design, the building minimises the energy required to maintain storage conditions and ensures that the collection remains protected even in the event of a power outage.
The building is split over three floors and includes a search room with seating to accommodate 10 customers and a map table, two strong rooms, a conservation suite, an isolation room, cataloguing rooms and a cleaning room for inspection of newly arrived documents.
Councillor Peter Hughes Griffiths, Carmarthenshire Council’s cabinet member for culture, sport and tourism, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that we are able to welcome our historical collection back to where it belongs. Once our complete collection is back in Carmarthenshire, we will be working towards achieving accredited archive status, which will provide national recognition of excellence within the sector.”
The Carmarthenshire Archives Service houses the records of Carmarthenshire Council and its predecessor bodies, as well as records deposited by organisations and individuals from across the council area dating from the 13th century to the present day.