Archives and Local Studies for Bath and North East Somerset

03/09/2026

One of the best exhibitions. Well worth making the effort to see this before it goes. Well done to everyone at the Gallery.

👀 Not convinced yet? Here's what visitors are saying...

⭐ "What a genius."
⭐ "A wonderful exhibition."
⭐ "A master of his craft."
⭐ "I came back the next day with my wife."

There aren't many stronger recommendations than that.

See Norman Ackroyd: The Transience of Light before it closes.

⏳ Finishing 6 September.

💬 Have you visited yet? We'd love to hear what you thought.

02/09/2026

Working in an archive is not all about handling medieval charters with care (thank goodness, my Latin’s non-existent), or finding the long-lost diaries of John Wood Sr (very unlikely - though it would answer so many questions). Some jobs are prosaic but necessary sorting and packaging so the material is safe for future researchers.

I spent the morning the other day packing away our small, irregular collection of Bath events pamphlets - This Month in Bath, Bath Month, Bath Events etc. One of those jobs that seems quite quick in your head, but actually takes time, care and attention. Now I just need to get them listed on the catalogue…

29/08/2026

It’s very nearly Heritage Open Days week…

I’m sorting out our display cabinet, which can be very distracting as I look through our archives and ephemera… I’ll let you know when it’s ready to go!

Our big event is the talk by David Stubbs (a long-time Mayors’ Guide) on the history of the building of the Georgian Guildhall - the people who built it, not just the men who signed the payslip.

It’s on Friday 18 September, Brunswick Room, 11am - please email [email protected] to reserve your place

29/08/2026

As I’m in the middle of updating some of the Bath in Time descriptions (it takes a while for them to filter through), I come across photos that stump me.
I’ve had a clock tower in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), South Africa, the High Street in Clovelly and some photos from the Isle of Wight. Not a place I know, but there were some lovely people at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway who helped me out this week and identified the photos below.
They are from Jim Whiteway’s personal photo collection, and include images from all over the place - though mostly around Bath - in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
It’s an adventure and I can’t wait to see where this collection will take me next.

1. Shanklin
2. Passing through Sandown
3. Sandown Station

26/08/2026

I do like a nice bit of gauffering…

This is from the Alvah Cook collection of art . He copied several different styles of from centuries past as a hobby (he was a lawyer by trade) in the late 19th century.

Whilst he concentrated on the gold-tooled covers, he also experimented with the page edges and here he this book - i.e. he chiselled out a design on the page foredges, gilded and painted it.

Not bad for a hobbyist!

21/08/2026

We have an exciting new project underway.

In partnership with other archive services in the SouthWest, the Sounds of the South West project has digitised over 230 of our out-dated and un-usable sound recordings. With the new digital files we can properly catalogue and transcribe them (thanks to our hard work) to make as many as possible available to the public.

In the next couple of years we will be bringing them out to the public and introducing you to some unheard voices from the past.

07/08/2026

We’ve been checking through the papers of J T Irvine - Clerk of Works to George Gilbert Scott for the Abbey restoration, architect, antiquarian and loved jumping into muddy holes to record archaeology.

Whilst it has been sending us cross-eyed reading the handwriting and picking out his literal ‘back of the envelope’ sketches, we’ve found some interesting things.

He was the architect for the Westgate Methodist Church - now sadly demolished. Hadn’t realised he’d acted as an architect for the whole building. He was also involved in the construction of St Andrew’s Church (now also gone).

And he was around as the Roman baths complex was rediscovered recording interesting things - such as the plumbing in the middle of the hot spring that feeds the King’s Bath.

24/07/2026

You’ve walked past it hundreds or times. It frequently appears as an image of Bath. But what do you know of the Georgian Guildhall?

Come and hear more about the building of the ‘New Hall’ in the 1770s. Who built it or decorated it? How was it furnished?

Come and find out at a talk on the history of the building of the Georgian Guildhall.
Guildhall, Fri 18 Sept, 11am - part of the Heritage Open Days events that include a display of some of our treasures.

Booking essential for the talk - email [email protected] to save your soace

06/06/2026

Waiting for the Mayor Making Ceremony to start in Bath Abbey. A first for me

23/04/2026

Another successful was had on Saturday. Always love to give people a chance to chat and ask questions. This year our display was on the history of the Banqueting Room, where the stalls were laid out. Including the original bill for the chandeliers above our heads.