No, not the legendary Saxon brothers Hengist and Horsa. We have just said goodbye to the Frith Centre, the last remaining HORSA hut on our site, as it has been demolished to make way for our new entrance and training suite.
The Frith Centre, most recently used as our temporary searchroom
This week we’ve been doing a bit of time travelling, journeying between the present and the 1970s when our building reached the end of its days as Kingsholm School. It’s been a low budget trip as we haven’t needed a TARDIS or the Time Lords’ other advanced technology. Instead, our trusty time portal has been some perfectly preserved photos that are in our collections, which means you can enjoy the tour too!
Cloakroom area then research room; the entrance to the new Heritage Hub will be on the right.
Gym then strongroom for outsize items; the wall to the left will be removed to create a flexible volunteer workspace that links to the new research room.
This area is soon to become the new Archives research room; most of the internal walls will be removed to create it. The right hand wall behind the red fire extinguisher is the other side of the wall on the left in the images immediately above.
More school day clues: playground tarmac under the concrete footing, an inkwell and marbles.
And finally the most up to the minute news: the tell-tale photo below shows the Horsa (hut) featured in last week’s post has finally bolted and we’re ‘ready for the off’ with works to lay the foundations of our new strongrooms!
Come back next week for another update.
Jill Shonk
Access & Learning Leader
As hoped, there’s been plenty of visible action this week!
Inside, our builders have begun the process of removing internal walls to create the new Archives research room and linked volunteer workspaces. And the view from the corridor outside my office door has changed, as you can see from the image below.
Former Archives reception area, leading to former research room
In its current state, it’s easy to imagine how the building must have worked when it was home to Kingsholm School. More so if we add in the reminiscences of former pupils – apparently the long, wide corridor doubled up as a gym!
If you look closely at the image you’ll also spot the walls that are due to be removed as works progress (the blue ‘OUT’ lettering is the giveaway), so we can begin to see what the building should look like when it reopens as Gloucestershire Heritage Hub.
Outside, the landscape has changed dramatically! The Horsa Huts next to the railway track have gone, freeing up space for a new access route to our collections storage areas. It’s been a fascinating learning experience, watching the Huts (formerly a conservation lab and archaeology store) disappear: I was expecting to see everything flattened in a dramatic swoop but I was wrong. Instead, an excavator operator carefully deconstructed the Huts using a muncher (‘get me’ with my new vocabulary!), picking off the different construction materials and sorting them into piles, ready for recycling. You can see this for yourself if you click on this link: https://youtu.be/PTVW5-ar1iw
‘All very exciting. More next week!
Jill Shonk
Access & Learning Leader
We’re celebrating an important anniversary this week. Our current building, originally designed as the Kingsholm Council Schools, was formally opened by the mayor of Gloucester 90 years ago, on 11 October 1926.
The red-brick, single storey building is a significant feature of the local landscape in Kingsholm. And the original layout is still recognisable despite many changes over the years so it brings back memories of old friends and shared experiences when former pupils visit the Archives.
Image of the present-day front of the building.
As well as these very personal memories we’re lucky to have a variety of written material with details of the original building work and then the school’s working life. It was the first school built by the City Council after World War 1 and its completion represented a triumph over what the mayor described as ‘extraordinary difficulties’. These included the sudden death of the architect and shortages of both manpower and materials in the economic depression following the end of the war. The first pupils appreciated its innovative, modern design and state-of-the-art facilities including central heating and hot water on tap. Amenities we take for granted today but which few of the pupils would have enjoyed at home in the 1920s.
Image of the opening ceremony on the front steps from the Cheltenham Chronicle and Gloucestershire Graphic, 16 October 1926
After the school closed in 1973, Gloucestershire County Council bought the site and adapted the building to house the County Record Office. The move across Gloucester from Shire Hall took place in 1979 and we’ve been here ever since!
We want to celebrate our building’s 90th anniversary so we’re holding a free ‘drop-in’ event in Roots Community Café in Alvin Street on Tuesday 22 November between 10:30am and 3:00pm. There’ll be a small display about the history of the school and also the county’s archives service which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. So it is a double celebration for us. If you (or a member of your family) were a pupil at the school or attended social events there, we’d love to hear your memories so please contact us.
As part of the development activities for our For the Record project, we’ve been looking into the history of our Alvin Street site. And we’ve unearthed some fascinating facts. Continue reading
Gloucestershire Archives 