An online exhibition to celebrate 60 years of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service.

Staffordshire is a county of contrasts. It is probably true to say that its distinctiveness lies in its diversity, which gives the county its own special character. Its many industries, past and present, the natural beauty and variety of its landscape, its complex system of transport and the activities of its people over the centuries are all represented in a rich archival heritage, shaped and created by the county’s history.

This exhibition gives a flavour of the distinctiveness of Staffordshire through some of the thousands of archives in the care of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service. The archive collections held by the Service are of infinite variety, reflecting very many aspects of past life in the county. These archives are unique and irreplaceable, forming a significant part of our local cultural heritage. They are the tools which help us to understand and interpret our past. They form Staffordshire’s recorded memory.

The role of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service is to locate, collect and preserve archive collections relating to past and present life in the county and the city and to make them widely available for use by local people and visitors to the county. Until 1974, the Archive Service also collected and preserved archives relating to those parts of historic Staffordshire which then became part of the new county of the West Midlands.

In 2007 the Archive Service celebrates its 60th anniversary. The Service takes great pride in the contribution which it has made since 1947 to the preservation of Staffordshire’s archival heritage. This exhibition also provides the opportunity to say thank you to all those organisations and individuals, who have entrusted the care of their archives to the Archive Service over the last 60 years so that they can be used by people wishing to know more about Staffordshire’s past.