Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
Welcome back! As we begin to open the archive again we wanted to introduce you, our users, to our new searchroom procedures. You are still able to consult original documents in the reading area, search through microfilm and fiche, check maps, and use online resources such as Ancestry and Find My Past. However, we're opening…
Continue reading ➞ Welcome back! A ‘new normal’ for the Searchroom
By Tim Hudson (guest blogger) What types of historic documents do architectural historians use? Continuing with our guest written series, the once Editor of the Sussex Victoria County History and co author of the updated Pevsner guide to West Sussex, Tim Hudson, will be exploring the types of records used when researching built heritage. Each…
Continue reading ➞ Historic records and architectural histories: Faculties
You may know Shippam's as the purveyors of meat and fish pastes which are sold in supermarkets to this day. They carry a strong nostalgic connection to those who grew up enjoying their products. The company has always had very close ties with Chichester, and had brilliant marketing to help them dominate the market. This…
John Smith PH 10/56 - View of South Harting from Petersfield Road It's difficult to look at old photos of the countryside and not get nostalgic. Even for city dwellers, images like blackberry picking are only associated with happy, warm days in the open air. Country life has certainly changed over the past century, so…
Continue reading ➞ West Sussex Unwrapped Week 7: Country Life
Peek into the history of West Sussex's traditions, some you may know and some you may not. A few are shared with other counties but others are unique to West Sussex. Traditions have, by their nature, changed with time and many are no longer practised. If you've experienced a 'West Sussex tradition' let us know…
Continue reading ➞ West Sussex Unwrapped Week 6: Rural traditions
Though 2020 has not really been the year for street gatherings, if there's one thing people like to do - it's have a celebration! Royal Jubilees and Coronations have been some of the easiest excuses for communities to gather together and have a bit of a party. Taking a look through the centuries, we're able…
Continue reading ➞ West Sussex Unwrapped Week 5: Jubilees and Coronations
Map of Sussex, and it's extensive coastline, by James Wyld, c1860, PM 124 The coast of West Sussex is beautiful, but also deadly. The sea, with its unpredictable swells and lack of shelter from squally storms, has claimed many lives and countless vessels. Although the United Kingdom is an island with a deep connection with…
To match up with Screen Archive South East's Day in Horsted Keynes Women’s Institute film, this week we are taking a look at what WSRO hold from up and down the county regarding WIs. There's a lot of places to visit, and a lot of memories to recall and people to see, so let's get…
Continue reading ➞ West Sussex Unwrapped Week 3: Food, Certificates and Scrapbooking of the WI
By Nichola Court, Archivist WSRO holds a large and rich photographic archive of the county, dating from the earliest days of photography up to the modern day. One of our most compelling collections is that of the amateur photographer John Fletcher, a local man whose life was tragically cut short by World War I. In…
Arguably, the profession of nursing offered the same essential experience for every nurse. Yet, it was the experiences born from a specific place and time which gave each nurse their own unique story, and West Sussex has been home to a number of historically significant institutions. From the medieval hospitality of St Mary's Hospital in…
