Birkenhead MP Frank Field officially opens Wirral Council’s new records office

Nov 19 2008 by Staff Reporter, Wallasey News

WIRRAL Council opened its new cutting edge records facility at the Cheshire Lines building in Birkenhead on Friday.

The ceremony was performed by Birkenhead MP Frank Field.

The new building features a new search room with microfilm readers and state of the art computers to support research into local history.

The facility includes more than five miles of documents relating to local government, workhouses, schools, hospitals, law courts and businesses, including Cammell Laird.

Also there are photographs, maps, plans and local newspapers dating back to the 19th century which are preserved in a purpose built strong room. In this room are also Local Censuses, electoral and burial registers, giving viewers and insight into Wirral’s family history previously unseen.

Cllr Steve Foulkes, leader of Wirral Council, said: “The new premises are allowing us to provide a much better service by combining important historical documents with modern technology.

“People will be impressed by the thousands of documents available, the oldest being a medieval title deed for Wallasey dating back to 1447.”

Wirral Archive Service is running free Saturday morning workshops aimed at all ages that will cover family history through to Wirral at war.

It is open from Monday to Friday, from 9.30am to 4.30pm and Saturdays from 10am to 1pm.

For more information, call 606 2929 or visit www.wirral.gov.uk