Archive project

At Dorset History Centre we are very fortunate to have secured funding for projects that enhance access to our collections. Projects have included cataloguing, digitisation, preservation and education work. Projects are often undertaken in collaboration with partner organisations, and with the assistance of knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers. We also offer support for community projects

Hardy and the Empty Rooms Project

Last year we introduced you to Emma, who has been working alongside our Thomas Hardy Project Archivist. Since last August, Emma’s project has developed, and we wanted to give you an update… — For the last fourteen months I have been working as an intern on the Empty Rooms Project, a collaborative initiative between the… Read more Hardy and the Empty Rooms Project

Cataloguing the Yellow Buses Archive

Thanks to the cataloguing grant supplied by the Business Archives Council, Dorset History Centre were able to catalogue the archive collection of Bournemouth Transport Ltd (also known as Yellow Buses). The company began as Bournemouth Corporation Tramways, originating at the start of the twentieth-century with trams and trolley-bus services until they were modernised in the… Read more Cataloguing the Yellow Buses Archive

Merry Christmas from the Thomas Hardy Archive!

This Christmas, Project Archivist Ruth Burton and National Trust Intern Emma Allen-White have been looking for all things festive in the Thomas Hardy archive. In Under the Greenwood Tree, Thomas Hardy wrote one of the most vivid and evocative descriptions of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in fiction. The book begins: ‘On a cold and… Read more Merry Christmas from the Thomas Hardy Archive!

The Empty Rooms Project and Thomas Hardy

As part of the ongoing Thomas Hardy cataloguing project, we have been joined by Emma, an intern who is working alongside Dorset History Centre and the National Trust to unlock some of the gems hidden in the collection… — Some of you may have seen me at Dorset History Centre (DHC) if you are in… Read more The Empty Rooms Project and Thomas Hardy

GRT History Month: Listen to the story of Gary Orange

Dorset History Centre has a close relationship with Kushti Bok, Dorset’s Gypsy Roma Traveller-led charity which celebrates the travelling lifestyle, the local history of GRT families and advocates for the rights of GRT people, whether settled or mobile or living at one of Dorset’s Council’s sites. While working with Kushti Bok, DHC has been able… Read more GRT History Month: Listen to the story of Gary Orange

The Thomas Hardy Cataloguing Project is Underway!

Hello, I’m Ruth and I began working as the Thomas Hardy Project Archivist in mid-March. I have moved down to Dorset from West Yorkshire, where I was working at Special Collections and Galleries in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. Over the next sixteen months I will be creating a detailed catalogue of… Read more The Thomas Hardy Cataloguing Project is Underway!

Unlocking the Archives of Thomas Hardy – Dorset’s literary giant

A crowdfunding appeal by Dorset History Centre and partners Dorchester is home to the finest archive of material by and about Thomas Hardy in the world – that is, the primary sources which support and inform any new research into Hardy and his contemporaries.  The archive is recognised by UNESCO as a collection of international… Read more Unlocking the Archives of Thomas Hardy – Dorset’s literary giant