New home at the University of York for centuries of history
Posted on 19 April 2005
Documents, ranging from Lord Halifax's family archives and Charlotte Bronte's will to humble title deeds, are now in climatically-controlled conditions in the Borthwick Institute’s £6.5 million new building on the University’s Heslington Campus.
Constructed with the help of a £4.415 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, it will be opened by the Chief Executive of the National Archives, Sarah Tyacke.
The Borthwick, one of Britain's most important collections of historical documents, has moved two miles from St Anthony’s Hall, the 15th century former religious guild hall in York city centre which had been its home for more than 50 years.
The collection, based originally on the Archive of the Archbishopric of York, is a huge family history archive containing details of baptisms, marriages and burials stretching back centuries and more than 500,000 wills dating from 1320 to 1858.
Since the building opened to the public in January 2005, the collection has grown thanks to the significantly increased storage space which has seen a number of important personal archives deposited, including the records of Lord Halifax's Garrowby Estate which traces its evolution from horsepower to tractor power.
[The Borthwick] is proving extraordinarily popular and, after being open for just three months, it is already rightly regarded as an example of best practice in the sector
Professor Brian Cantor
One gift gave unsuspecting archivists an unusual discovery. Among a huge collection of family papers, covering a period from 1780 to the 1970s, they found a First World War field first aid kit containing morphine and opium, both controlled drugs, and staff had to arrange for the drugs’ safe disposal in conjunction with the Home Office Drugs Inspectorate.
The Borthwick has outgrown St Anthony’s Hall where the accommodation even in 1953, was described as 'less than ideal' by the then Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Sir Hilary Jenkinson.
The Archive of the Archbishopric had been moved from York Minster as part of a campaign to attract a university to the city. Using a bequest from William Borthwick, a Bridlington perfumier, a research institute based on the Archive was established at St Anthony’s Hall.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, Professor Brian Cantor, said: "The Borthwick Institute is now housed in wonderful facilities thanks to the generosity of the Heritage Lottery Fund. It is proving extraordinarily popular and, after being open for just three months, it is already rightly regarded as an example of best practice in the sector."
Chris Webb, Keeper of Archives at the Borthwick Institute, said: "Since we opened in January, there has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of visitors, while website hits have gone up by about 70 per cent. People think it is fantastic compared with what we had before, and, indeed, with what is available elsewhere.
"The new extended opening hours have completely transformed access to the Borthwick. People are taking advantage of the new microform room which they can now use in the evenings during term time and on Sundays. We are hugely busy."
Notes to editors:
- The Borthwick’s new building has strong rooms with concrete walls 375mm thick designed to maintain a constant temperature and humidity. Every window and all the lights are UV filtered. There is space for 40 researchers, plus a Lifelong Learning suite accommodating 30 people. School visits are encouraged.
- It has free public access during permitted opening hours and there is full disabled access. It is open 9am-5pm plus two evenings a week. The extensive microfilm records are open until 10pm during term time and all day on Saturdays and Sundays.
- The opening day includes exhibitions on mental health care in York from the 18th century, as seen through the Retreat, Clifton Hospital and Bootham Park Hospital archives at the Borthwick; on the way the new building helps to preserve the archives in it, contrasted with the previous facilities; and on the huge operation to transfer the 30,000 boxes of archive material from St Anthony's Hall to the new building.
- Photographs can be arranged by contacting Nicola Coates in the University of York Communications Office on 01904-432029 or at njc7@york.ac.uk.