This year’s Heritage Open Days theme ‘Creativity Unwrapped’ was very evocative of the nature of archives. In the research room, we very carefully unbox and unwrap items from their protective packaging, and in the records themselves, the stories of creative personalities are revealed.
To explore this topic, we highlighted the fascinating history of some of the many grass roots creative communities in the region, through a series of bite-size videos. In these videos, rarely seen archive material is unboxed to unfold the stories of the creative passions and pursuits of local people down the decades and centuries gone by.
The Great Guild Book, c.1409-1589
This late medieval volume details Beverley’s craft and trade guilds. Some of its older entries are in Latin (Archives reference: BC/II/3/1)
The Beverley Womens Voluntary Service Hospital Helps scrapbook, 1940-1945
Miss Whiteing’s Second World War scrapbook provides an insight into the eventful lives of the Beverley Womens Voluntary Service. (Archives reference: DDX294/1)
Howden Manor, Court Roll, 1509-1610
Watch our Conservator unravel a 16th-century court roll that describes the activities and individuals of Howden Manor. A much untapped resource for family and local history! (Archives reference: DDHM/235430)
For ‘Creativity Unwrapped’ content from our fantastic colleagues in East Riding Museums and Beverley Art Gallery, have a look at our dedicated Heritage Open Days webpage. You can also see previous Heritage Open Days content on the themes of ‘Astounding Inventions’, ‘Edible England’ and ‘Hidden Nature’.
Archives blog 