Archive Volunteer

St Ives Archive and the Difference We Make

St Ives Archive is now approaching its 30th year.  In that time it has been responsible for taking care of the local history and heritage of St Ives and the surrounding area.  From its humble beginnings with a handful of enthusiastic volunteers, the Archive has become a living, growing resource collecting and preserving the personal stories of local people for future generations. It has a state of the art cataloguing system and is shortly to move into premises in the heart of St Ives. As part of this new era we need additional volunteers to take us forward.

What we do

Since it was founded in 1996, St Ives Archive has assembled information on every aspect of the heritage of St Ives and houses a growing collection of books, newspaper articles, maps, legal documents, correspondence and catalogues.  Some of the records date back to the 17th century and our image library now stands at over 35,000 items.

There are three basic aspects of the Archive’s work:        

Collecting the information - we have a policy about what we can and cannot collect, and we have to have signed forms to accompany everything that is donated (accessions).        

Looking after the information - that is the part where we have to decide where everything goes, that it is stored appropriately and that it is documented on the database.        

Making it available to all - this covers all enquiries from any source and producing material that makes use of the resources both physical and on-line - this is where the Archive makes its money and is our valuable asset. This activity includes giving illustrated talks, creating visual displays that are used when we hold events such as open days, selling merchandise, books and maps, contributing articles and photos to local and national media.  We handle enquiries from the public and charge for research time for any work we carry out.  We work closely in partnership with other organisations in the town including Tate, Leach Pottery, Porthmeor Studies, St Ives Museum St Ives Arts Club, schools, as well as universities, Pendennis Castle, Penlee Gallery, Morrab Library, Kresen Kernow, The Cornwall Archive Network (CAN), local, national and international media and auction houses.

The Difference We Make

We have a rich history of working in close partnership with local, national and international organisations.  The Archive provides the cement between the bricks of other cultural attractions in the town by drawing on resources about artists, maritime history, family history, tourism, railways, mining, archaeology, festivals, folklore, composers, writers and legends.  We hold a valuable resource for everyone interested in learning more about the history of the town and the surrounding area.