Historic archive centre The Keep opens

Historic Sussex

After a grand opening by Her Majesty The Queen, historic archive centre The Keep opens to the public in Moulescoomb on 19 November

Are you interested in the history and culture of Sussex? Or maybe your own family history? Do you want to discover more about people living in Sussex including artists and writers such as Eric Ravilious, Rudyard Kipling and Virginia Woolf? The documents and records, newspaper archives, photographs, diaries, maps and books held at The Keep can help you find out.

Photograph of ‘Daddy Longlegs’ Railway, 1890s (Royal Pavilion & Museum Local History Collections)
Section of estate-map of land in Rodmell, 1829 (East Sussex Record Office Collections)

The Keep represents the next generation of archive centres. A ‘Centre of Excellence’ for conservation and preservation, it provides an unrivalled record of the region’s history, through documents dating back over 900 years, as well as important 20th and 21st century literary, political and social history archives, and database records of sites and finds from early prehistory onwards.

Situated at Woollards Field, Moulsecoomb, with excellent access by public transport and ample parking, The Keep houses the collections of East Sussex Record Office, Royal Pavilion & Museums Local Collections, the internationally significant University of Sussex Special Collections, Sussex Family History Group library, and East Sussex Historic Environment Record database.

The Keep is for everyone, with a drop-in service, and fast retrieval times for original archives throughout the day. There is free public access to all its collections; and The Keep has been created for different people to use in different ways: the adult and community sectors, schools, colleges, universities, scholars, specialist researchers, and businesses.

The architects are Atkins, a practice which is internationally acclaimed for its archive centres. The Keep is a striking, cream and white rectangular building, with an exterior frieze by artist Carolyn Trant, featuring images inspired by the collections and the East Sussex landscape. The design of The Keep separates the block for document storage (the Repository Block) from the block where visitors and staff work and study (the People Block).

“The Repository Block has capacity for ten miles of material”

The Repository Block, which houses over six miles of archives, has capacity for ten miles of material, as further deposits are envisaged. Temperature and humidity are carefully controlled to preserve the collections perfectly.
The public areas are on the ground floor of the People Block. There is an open reading room and reference library, with desk space for 115 visitors and access to computer terminals and microform readers. There are also discrete, sound-proofed areas for group research, oral history recordings, and appointments with the Sussex Family History Group. A secure search room, where readers can work with original documents, adjoins the reading room.

One of the stores in the Repository Block at The Keep (Photograph: David Churchill)

The Keep will be a community hub, as there are well-equipped, state-of-the-art spaces for education and outreach projects: local organisations and groups will be able to meet and hold events here. A programme of activities for volunteers of all ages, including simple conservation and digitisation, will enable people to play a part in the preservation and content of their region’s historical and documentary collections. Material can be ordered remotely from the new electronic archive catalogue, on the website at www.thekeep.info.

The Keep is one of the ‘greenest’ archive buildings in the country, with thick, well insulated walls, large windows to maximise day light, low-energy light fittings, and solar panels to generate electricity and heat water. The building is sympathetic to its attractive setting within the ‘South Downs Character Area’, and has been designed to be long lasting, easily maintained and sustainable.

The Keep, Woollards Way, Moulsecoomb, Brighton, BN1 9BP, 01273 482349, www.thekeep.info