The City Council is the custodian of a wide range of artefacts ranging from the tiniest seal to the large portraits and from civic gifts to furniture and Carolean maces.

It is less well known that the City Council also cares for records which go back far beyond the Charter granted by King John in 1201 and which chart a fascinating history of civic life and business through the ages.

The care of all of these and their promotion through exhibitions is overseen by this committee and the City's Archivist and Chamberlain.

Temporary Closure of Wells City Archives

Wells City Archives are being moved from their current location in the old jail cells at Wells Town Hall to modern storage facilities at Wells and Mendip Museum. To enable the move to take place, it is necessary to close the Archives temporarily, with effect from 1st March 2011. As well as preparing for and carrying out the move of the collection, time will be spent during the temporary closure developing new resources to improve our services when we re-open to the public, including improved catalogues and new information leaflets about using the collection.

Unfortunately this means that the Archives will be closed to the public from 1st March 2011 until the autumn, when we expect to begin a phased reintroduction of service. It will not be possible for us to produce any material from the Archives during the closed period. We regret that we shall also be unable to answer any enquiries relating to the Archives for the duration of the closure.

We apologise for any inconvenience this closure may cause. For urgent enquiries only, please contact the City Archivist on arch@wells.gov.uk.

 

 

The last meeting was held on Thursday 2nd February 2012. Minutes to follow. Please note that all minutes are draft until approved at the next meeting
 

The next Archive and Civic Asset Meeting will be held on 5th April 2012 at 7:00pm in the Council Chamber.