Shropshire Archives

Discovered in a London antique shop in 2015 and dating from c.1580, the beautiful Ludlow Castle Heraldic roll contains 42 coats of arms of some of the owners of Ludlow castle, presidents and members of the Council in the Marches of Wales from the 11th century to the 16th. It records the arms painted in […]

A blog post by Philip David Jones who volunteered at Shropshire Archives last year as part of his English Degree. ‘No, Father, not everything is available on the Internet. It was actually during a school trip to Shropshire Archives that I discovered a Victorian entertainments bill, which I asked to see and then photographed.’ During […]

Our volunteer photograph cataloguer, Tony Price, has been doing more research on the wonderful Picken photographs. He writes… Having met a descendant of the Picken/Cooper family, Jo Whitaker, I was able to put some names to photographs, and add more information and stories behind them. In the last addition of the Friends of Shropshire Archives’ […]

A cartulary is simply a register (or compilation) of deeds and charters that relate to land ownership. They were particularly popular with monasteries in the late medieval period as a way of reaffirming endowments that had been made in previous centuries. By copying the abbey’s most important charters into a cartulary, monks were able to […]

On the 20th July we will be celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the first moon landing. Earth dwellers have always been fascinated by the night sky with its stars and planets, and often obsessed with Earth’s satellite, the Moon. From the archives, we can find evidence that the past people of Shropshire shared in this […]

Shrewsbury is lucky to have a fantastic and well preserved castle. If you pop into the castle grounds during late July or early August, you might notice something unusual happening. Local archaeologist Dr Nigel Baker will be directing excavations at Shrewsbury Castle.  This will help us understand the form of the earliest castle and landscape. […]

The summer school includes several workshops on local and family history. One of these is a talk about Shropshire Archives with a tour behind the scenes including our conservation and digitization studio and a chance to look at a selection of archive material tailored to the interests of the group. When: Tuesday 30 July 2019 […]

Behind the Scenes at Shropshire Archives: now fully booked Your chance to see behind the scenes at Shropshire Archives and get a glimpse of the fantastic collections held here . When: Tuesday 17 September 2019 Time: 2pm-3.30pm Where: Shropshire Archives Cost: Free but booking essential (now fully booked, but there is a waiting list) Your […]

Volunteers have always contributed to the work of Shropshire Archives, some have been with us for years (even decades), while others come for a more intensive short placement. Just a flavour of some of the projects volunteers are working onsite…. Describing newly deposited photographs, prints and engravings (you can read more about the background to […]