FOLLOWING the closure of the County Councils Archive Records store at Parc Myrddin more than two years ago, the County Council has announced that a new Archive Centre is planned.
Council Officers have stated that this service is likely to remain in Carmarthen. £2m has already been allocated for the new development which will house some of the most important historical documents held within Wales.
Friends of Carmarthenshire Archives representative Bruce Wallace said “This is welcome news after a long period of inaction. The Carmarthenshire Archive consists of thousands of documents deposited by families, the legal profession, parish councils, churches, chapels, societies and individuals for safe keeping by the County Council and they are at present unavailable to researchers, historians and PhD, MA & Degree students.
“The collection is of untold value and is probably one of the most prestigious local authority collections in Wales. Some of the documents are over 500 years old and include individual items of national importance. Potential future deposits are being held back and some are being lost as we speak’.
“The Friends of Carmarthen Archives consists of regular users of the Archive Service. We also represent the thousands of researchers, historian and students that were, until 2 years ago using the service on an annual basis. It is far more than just a service for those doing family research’.
“We have a shared vision with the County Council and look forward to working with them as the project develops. However, we are concerned that at the present time, the post of County Archivist remains vacant. It really needs a champion that can guide this important development through to a successful service for future researchers. We are also concerned with the fact that although this is a statutory service, other nonstatutory projects are at the present time drawing capital funding over and above any monies being provided for the new archive.”
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