A PRICELESS 100-year trove of material charting the development of adult education in Rugby has attracted a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The grant of more than £20,000 will enable Rugby’s Percival Guildhouse to collate, catalogue, digitise and display its records – which reveal how it has developed and reflected changes in society locally and nationally since it opened in 1925.
Until now, material including course programmes, play scripts, diaries and minutes of meetings has lain undocumented in boxes in the basement of the St Matthew’s Street Centre.
Guildhouse Trustee Liz Pichon, who is leading the archive project, said: “It was only when we started to look through some of the boxes that we realised what treasures we possessed.
“We consulted the National Archive at an early stage and they confirmed that we had material of national significance. But we had neither the means nor the finances to transform our treasure into something useful.
“Working closely with various expert advisers, we put together our successful bid to The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
“National Lottery players’ support means that we can now not only preserve all we have for posterity but create a searchable historic resource which can be used by schools, local historians and people who are simply curious about the past.”
Liz and fellow Guildhouse volunteers Steve Becker and Peter Harris began sifting through the material.
With confirmation of the grant, work has now begun to scan and catalogue all material so the oldest and most fragile items can be digitised professionally to protect the archive for future generations.
A website is also being created to give the public easy access to the archives.
Liz added: “The archives tell many different stories about the Percival Guildhouse and its wider contributions to the heritage of Rugby and surrounding districts
“We are planning a series of Heritage Forums for the general public at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum (RAGM) to give wider access to this heritage and help people to engage with six main themes relating to the history of the Guildhouse: the Foundation, Courses, Activities, Significant People, Debates and the Guildhouse Players.”
Chair of Trustees Rob Close added: “The Percival Guildhouse Archive reveals the rich contribution the Guildhouse has made to local adult education – as well as its wider contribution to adult education in this country, to the visual and dramatic arts, and to enhancing the lives of many through its forums, clubs, debates and other activities since its inception in 1925.”
The public can see what the archive has to offer by visiting the Percival Guildhouse Arts and Archive Exhibition at RAGM from June 4 to 16.
