Save the Worcester Hive Archive.

The provision of Record Offices - preserving the "corporate memory" of our society and its local communities - calls for long-term, stable funding. The service must be protected against such an extreme cut in funding.

This is resource that is vital to so many.

I urge the Council to have some respect for and preserve the local and national heritage and history held at the archive. Without the dedicated staff to look after the materials and documents, it will become inaccessible.

Why spend £60 million and then 7 years later mothball part of it? Archives are there for access; the Hive contains material of local and national importance and it has built up a team of archivists whose knowledge of the material is second to none. This combination has enriched many research projects over the years, including my own at the university of Birmingham. To implement the cut backs on the proposed scale will inevitably seriously damage this important asset - and reduce income streams to the city (researchers do spend money in the city!)

For continuing development if community is important that there is well kept archive which contributes to knowledge and future research

Having just retired and intending to spend my retirement on researching the history of Worcestershire I need this resource.

The collection at Worcester is of local and national importance. Access should be maintained for researchers of all sorts.

This is a resource of immense value not only to people who live in Worcestershire, but to everyone who has an interest in and connection to Worcestershire's history in some way. I hope the County Council will reconsider.

7 years ago Featured

As a local historian and contributor to the archive of some 6,000+ historical photographs of Worcester, I feel that it’s continuance is a vital and essential component providing a resource for research into local history.

As an archivist and local historian I know what a wonderful resource this archive is for researchers throughout the West Midlands, and I deed nationally. To cut funding by the percentage mooted would have serious implications for the cultural health of the county, and further afield

It lacks sagacity to close a resource of such great value to researchers, studerts and academics generally. More generally it undermines the value society places on such facilities. Please think again.

The Hive is an invaluable resource for those involved in historical research across the county, the region and beyond. The diocesan archive proved essential to my doctoral research at the University of Warwick and revealed a type of document that survives in only one other location. The proposed cuts, which suggest a lack of awareness of the nature of archival research and the true value of such resources, are short-sighted in the extreme and must be reconsidered.

I am not a student but an active and committed genealogist, and depend on access to archives. I fear that such a drastic proposal will set a precedent for other archive services, if not strongly opposed. I remember the campaign for our architectural heritage in the 1970s which eventually instilled a sense of local pride in our area. A great pity there is such a lack of pride in Worcestershire's archival heritage.

As a university of Birmingham PhD researcher I am astounded by this proposed cut. The Hive not only informs researchers but is hugely valued and used by Worcester residents.

As a local history doctoral researcher with the University of Birmingham, the proposed cut in funding would certainly harm current research projects at University of Worcester but also at other universities in the West Midlands. All local archives are a valuable resource for local communities who wish to access, learn about and engage with their social and cultural history. Please continue to support this essential resource.

Documents archived at the Hive have proved invaluable to my research project focussed on Birmingham and district in the 18th and 19th centuries. It would be a tragedy if the Hive's rich archive were no longer to be capable of easy access. As a Worcestershire ratepayer, I am sure savings can be made elsewhere in the County's budget without the need to have such a short-sighted and damaging impact on the Hive

The archive is a vital historical and social resource which attracts not only people from the county but from all over the country to visit Worcester. It is of national importance and is fortunate to have a knowledgeable and unwaveringly helpful staff. Please continue to support this wonderful institution which is irreplaceable.

The Hive is an invaluable resource for the people of the Midlands today and into the future. Closing it would be shortsighted and damaging.

The study of history is no respecter of county boundaries. As well as reducing the quality of historical experience available to the residents of Worcestershire, any serious diminution of service by the Hive will impact on a much wider research community. I am a postgraduate researcher at the University of Birmingham and both for my M.A. dissertation and my current PhD research into nineteenth-century Dudley I have used resources at the Hive that are completely unique. My current studies would be much poorer without them. Local authorities usually seek to raise their own profile and it seems particularly sad if a council based in Worcester, the faithful city, should turn its back on historical research. It might also be seen as a betrayal of those who have liberally donated to Worcestershire's collection of historic records over the years. I am thinking, in particular, that my fellow townsman, Alderman H. E. Palfrey, would be horrified to think that the amazing collection that he donated to Worcestershire Record Office might become unavailable to researchers.

This archive is invaluable for research and heritage in Worcester. It not only provides a repository for local people interested in family and community history, but also plays an important role in courses taught at the University. The diocesan records are an essential resource for anyone researching the social, religious and cultural history of the region. They should be properly supported for the benefit of all; to cut them in the manner proposed would be an act of cultural self harm.