ALB-Historic England-Preparation of the Marches Archaeology Archive for Deposition with the Potteries Museum (360G-cabinetoffice-GA-147225)

Archaeological work generates large quantities of documentary, digital and material archives, but what becomes of these Marches Archaeology, an archaeological unit based in Clun, Shropshire, had a reputation for undertaking high quality fieldwork and depositing equally high quality archives. Unfortunately, after they ceased trading in 2006, many of their archives remained undeposited, mostly from sites within Wales and western England. At the request of their former director, most of these were collected by Historic England in August 2010, following which Cotswold Archaeology http://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/ were appointed to process the archives and deposit them with approved museums, a process that was completed in 2013. Non-project material was recycled or, in the case of personal effects (which included military medals and a train set!), returned to the son of the former director of Marches Archaeology. Part of the Marches Archaeology archive in the care of Staffordshire County Council was not collected by Historic England in 2010. These archives, from some 14 different projects undertaken in Staffordshire, will shortly be collected by Cotswold Archaeology staff, and prepared for deposition to modern standards at their offices in Kemble, Gloucestershire. The work will be undertaken by a team of enthusiastic local volunteers, under the guidance of Cotswold Archaeology staff who, over the course of several similar projects, have gained wide experience of dealing with orphaned archives. Following processing, the archives will be deposited with the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent http://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/visit/pmag/, where they will be available for future research, a process that is due for completion in May 2018.