The Moving Blog

Before we get stuck into move updates and suchlike we thought we'd kick off with a quick FAQ that - along with the microsite itself! - will hopefully help answer any initial queries you might have about the move.

Why is Stoke-on-Trent City Archives moving?

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has sold the City Central Library building in which the Archive Service resides as the library no longer needs so much space and the cost of upkeep is too high, and getting higher. The big plus is that the move to The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery will bring the object and archive collections of the city together in a specialist collections building.

Why does Stoke-on-Trent City Archives need to close? (And why for so long?)

All of our collections have to be packaged, documented, and safely moved ready to be accessed in the new facility - this includes not only the archive collections in our four large strongrooms but also the Local Studies Library and Pottery Library too.

When will Stoke-on-Trent City Archives re-open?

At the time of writing the current plan is for the service to re-open in the summer of 2023, but this does depend on the progress of the building work, so it may be the autumn. In either case the microsite will be updated as the move progresses.

What access will there be while the move takes place?

For detailed information about access and enquiries we'd point you towards the Current Status section on our home page. As we move between being Open, being on Restricted Access, and being Fully Closed, there'll be different levels of access on offer and the best place to get up-to-date information will be there.

Away from the City Archive itself the City's Community Libraries - City Central Library, Bentilee, Longton, Meir, Stoke and Tunstall - all provide access to both Find My Past and Ancestry, as well as containing the Six Towns Collection, a small selection of the most popular local studies and pottery library publications, often specific to that area. Staffordshire's libraries also provide access to Find My Past and Ancestry as well as online access to The British Newspaper Archive. Further afield, Keele University Library has a local studies collection (but contact them in advance for how to access the collections), and the Victoria and Albert Museum's National Art Library includes an excellent ceramics section.