Collections Management Policy

5. Scope of the collections

5.1 The geographical area served by Lancashire Archives is the present administrative county of Lancashire and the unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen. The archive service also retains responsibility for archives created by the administration of the county of Lancashire before 1974, which relate to the whole of the historic county.

5.2 The archive collections include material covering the historic County Palatine of Lancaster - from South Lakeland to Merseyside, Manchester and Warrington – and are of national and international importance as well as regional and local significance.

5.3 Lancashire Archives collections are among the largest in the North West covering almost 9 miles of shelving – about 1825 cubic metres in volume and comprising more than 5,300 separate collections. The archives are in a variety of materials and formats - parchment or vellum, paper, linen, volumes, microfilm and photographic material and audio and digital media - and range in size from tiny documents to rolled parchments or maps, which may be more than 6 metres in length. They document the county’s diverse history and culture from the mid-twelfth century to the present day and include the archives of people, organisations and businesses in Lancashire, reflecting the changing landscape, communities and economy over nine centuries.

5.4 Lancashire Archives also manages a significant collection of books and printed material relating to people and places in the former County Palatine – the Lancashire Printed Collection. This supports the archive collections and provides a countywide local studies resource.