Funding secured to protect county's archives

Dorset's official archive service has been awarded more than £600,000 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Dorset History Centre (DHC), which is home to over 1,000 years of the county's recorded history, will be protected and better accessed thanks to the funding.

The DHC will be given an initial funding amount of £603,777 to help it progress its plans before applying for a full grant of £3.8m.

Councillor Ryan Hope, Dorset Council's culture cabinet member, said he was "thrilled to have received the funding.

"Thanks to National Lottery players we can now develop our plans to enhance our excellent archive service and to ensure the preservation and accessibility of our cultural heritage for future generations," he said.

The funding forms part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund's project named Past Lives, Future Proofed, which aims to protect the county's physical archives and provide better public access to the DHC building.

The DHC holds unique papers, historical parchments, photographs and films showcasing the people, places and events across Dorset in the past.

Originally called the Dorset Record Office, the building used to be based at County Hall in Dorchester and was founded in 1955.

By 1991, the collections had expanded and the office was turned into a building with environmentally controlled rooms to preserve the archives, located on Bridport Road.

Now, the National Lottery's Heritage Fund will support the DHC's plans to expand its premises as the current building quickly reaches its capacity.

The funding will help to preserve digital assets held at the centre and safeguard the county's cultural heritage for the next several decades.

The DHC plans to work with arts organisations and underrepresented communities to protect different cultural heritage that are not currently part of the county's archival holdings.

Access to Dorset's court records dating as far back as 1709 will be accessible as a result of the project.

The centre's initial funding marks the first development phase of the project, which will last 18 months.