Corus protects its heritage with a £20k donation to the British Steel Archive project

On 2 March Corus donated £20,000 to save the British Steel Archive for future generations. Corus will donate £60,000 in total over the next three years. The project to preserve the British Steel Archive is being run jointly by the University of Teesside and Teesside Archives and has already created a great deal of interest.

Due to lack of funds, the archive was un-catalogued and therefore inaccessible by local people, family historians and academic researchers.

Jon Bolton, Managing Director at Corus Teesside Cast Products said: “We originally gifted the archive so it makes perfect sense that we would contribute to its upkeep and preservation. The history and tradition of the steel industry on Teesside is extremely important and it goes a long way to explain the passion our people feel for the industry. The archive is home to the blue prints from many famous landmarks including the Sydney Harbour Bridge demonstrating it is of great local and national importance and source of immense local pride.”

Dr Joan Heggie, Research Fellow from the University of Teesside said: “This archive is a wonderful resource for the people of Teesside. Not only is it an industrial collection of national and international significance, it is full of images and documents about the people who worked in the iron & steel-making industries from the mid 1850s. The donation from Corus will help us to catalogue the entire collection, carry out preservation and conservation work and open the archive up to the public.”

The archive is housed in the Teesside Archives building in Exchange Square, Middlesbrough. It is an extensive collection of photographs, maps, ledgers, deeds and other documents which trace the history of British Steel and illustrate its role in shaping local society since the middle of the nineteenth century.

To get involved in the British Steel Archive Project, contact Dr Joan Heggie on 01642 384478 or email: britishsteel@tees.ac.uk.

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