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Events News

St Ives Archive and St Ives Town Council Secure Funding for Market House Move

Market House, St Ives

St Ives Town Council Joint Press Release  

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25th March 2024

St Ives Archive is on the move, as the partnership between the Archive and the Town Council secures Government Funding 

St Ives Town Council, working in close partnership with St Ives Archive, are thrilled to announce that Community Ownership funding has been secured to help the relocation of the Archive to the historic Market House.

Plans involve the renovation of the first floor of Market House to bring the Archive back to the heart of the town. The distinctive Grade II Listed building will have an improved access and be opened up to the community for the first time in decades.

Market House, St Ives
Market House, St Ives in 2007 (Photo: Kenneth Allen / Wikimedia Commons)

£275,000 has been awarded from the fund, which will enable the restoration and refurbishment works, improving the access to the building while enhancing the important historic features.

The Community Ownership Fund has so far awarded £71.4 million to 257 projects across the UK, and the St Ives Archive’s relocation to Market House is part of the third round of the fund.

Returning to the heart of the Town, the Archive will be able to welcome more visitors, revealing a wealth of important local material and by moving to Market House, a unique local landmark building will be restored and safeguarded for the future.

The second community open day at Market House, will take place this week on 28th March 2024 between 10am and 3pm. Today’s (25th March 2024) announcement will make the day more special as there is now great confidence that the project will become a reality.  All are welcome to take a look inside Market House, enjoy a celebratory slice of cake, and view the exhibition about Bryan Pearce, renowned St Ives artist, who portrayed Market House in his paintings, many times.

Councillor Tony Harris, Chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee for St Ives Town Council said:  

“I am absolutely delighted at this news! St Ives Archive can realise their long-held dream of moving back into the heart of our community, where it belongs. The move to the Market House will help the Centre provide archival and local history services for many more local people and visitors alike. This will help further safeguard and promote our local heritage for generations to come. Its new home, Market House has its own fascinating history and is a perfect match. Funding has made this possible, but it would not have happened without the trustees at the Centre and the Town Council’s own team working tirelessly together.”

Lyn Burchess, Chair of the Archive said:  

“We have been working very closely with the town council for many months on this exciting project, with the aim of moving back into town. The Market house is an iconic building, and it’s a perfect fit for the Archive, allowing more people to access our wonderful heritage.”

Community Ownership funding is awarded by the Department of Levelling Up Housing and Communities across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The programme is allocating over £150 million in funding to support community ownership of local assets. The project was one of two in Cornwall in round three, window 3. It is eligible because the Town Council will be passing a long lease of the first floor premises to the Archive, to safeguard its future as a community project.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/community-ownership-fund-first-round-successful-bidders#round-3-window-3-successful-bidders

Most of the funding is for capital works but a small amount will help the Archive fund a project officer. Funding will allow the project to go ahead, although a smaller award of a Town Deal Enterprise grant has been approved in principle but awaits final sign off.

Categories
Events History and Heritage News

St Ives Archive is Coming to Town!

Market House, St Ives 2010

In 2023, St Ives Town Council approached the Trustees of St Ives Archive and offered them a permanent home – Market House in Market Place. It is a perfect partnership, enabling the guardians of St Ives history to breathe life once again into this important building, which was Grade II listed in 1972.

The Market House has been the home of commerce and administration in St Ives since 1490. The original building was made of wood with an open ground floor which provided a sheltered area for trading. In 1832 this building was demolished and replaced by the larger granite building that exists today. The rounded ends of Market House, which gives the building such a distinctive shape, were designed for a specific purpose. The rounded ends allowed space for carts carrying ships’ masts to and from the Harbour to negotiate around the tight corners of St Ives’ streets.

The first floor of the new Market House became the Town Hall. It became both the council chamber for St Ives Town Council and also the Magistrate’s Court until the new Guildhall was built in Street an Pol and the Municipal Offices relocated there in 1940.  

Since it was founded in 1996, St Ives Archive has never had a permanent home. Wesley Methodist Church in Carbis Bay is currently its third location, and to move back into St Ives was always the aim of the Archive. So when the Archive Trustees were approached by the town council with the offer to move into the first floor of Market House, they were delighted to accept. The proposal is subject to raising the necessary funding, with the aim of completion in 2025. Applications for a St Ives Enterprise grant and the Government’s Community Ownership Fund are being prepared.

Archive volunteers were the first members of the public to have an escorted tour of the premises. An Open Day hosted by the Archive was held on 15th December 2023, and the response from the many visitors was overwhelmingly positive towards the move. On Thursday 28th March 2024, from 10am until 3pm, St Ives Archive will once again open the doors of Market House and hold a second Open Day with the co-operation of the Town Council.

It will be an opportunity to see the historic first floor – complete with the ceremonial chair and cells – before the first floor is closed for renovation. Refreshments will be available on the Open Day and a selection of Archive publications will be on sale. Volunteers will be there to give information and answer questions about the Archive and also to extend a warm welcome to any prospective volunteers. Volunteers are the life blood of the Archive and each one is valued for their commitment, time and skills at every level. This is an exciting time to join the team of enthusiastic volunteers and to experience being part of this unique project of relocation and the creation of a new Heritage and Study Centre.

By: Wendy Grove

This article was originally published in the March / April 2024 issue of St Ives Local magazine.

Image: Market Place, St Ives pictured in April 2010. Market House and Moffat Gallery can be seen on the right with St Eia House and No Worries souvenir shop on the left (Source: Wikimedia Commons).

Categories
Events News

Market House Open Day on 28th March

Pearce, Bryan; The Market House, St Ives
Pearce, Bryan; The Market House, St Ives; Royal Institution of Cornwall; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/the-market-house-st-ives-15295

St Ives Archive invite you to view the historical Market House, which will be our new home after restoring the first floor and transforming it into a modern facility for reference, display and study with access for all.

While the restoration project is still in the early stages, we are excited to open the doors to the public for a “before” look around the historical space. Join us on Thursday the 28th of March from 10am-3pm for coffee, cake and a display on Bryan Pearce, the St Ives artist who painted this beautiful picture of the Market House below (thank you Royal Cornwall Museum for permission to reproduce his work).

For more information about our move to the Market House in partnership with St Ives Town Council, please read our joint press release here.

If you are able to make a donation in support of our move to the Market House, we would be very grateful as a registered UK charity. A donation can be made through the Donate page on the website or by contacting the team at admin@stivesarchive.org.

We hope to see you at the Open Day!

Categories
Events News

St Ives Archive Open Day at the Market House on 15th December

Market House

Archive aweigh!

St Ives Archive invites you to an Open Day at the Market House on the 15th December from 10:00am – 15:00pm.

The St Ives Archive is on the move, having been in its present home for the last five years in Carbis Bay an opportunity has arisen to move into the town centre again. The first floor space has now become vacant in the Market Place building and the St Ives Town Council have offered this great space to create a new heritage study centre and storage facility for the St Ives Archive. 

This move will provide greater access for everyone to visit the collection and learn more about the fascinating history of St Ives from early times. The Market House building itself was completed in 1832 just five years before Queen Victoria came to the throne. The building is an important historic asset and the home of the former borough council and assizes. The original building was open downstairs and was covered later in the 20th Century to create shop units. In contrast, the upstairs is, amazingly, little changed from its early days. The raised Council chair and seating are all still in position along with the old cell food hatches from the assize court days.

Whilst the building is in sound condition there is a lot to do to bring it into the 21st century. The existing access is generally unsuitable and lift access will need to be provided for those not able to use the stairs. Modern archive storage facilities will be needed along with new toilet and kitchen areas and a fresh coat of paint all around!

Lyn Burchess, Chair of the Archive, said:

“The hard work has begun and we are looking to take advantage of this opportunity to increase our accessibility to the community by extending our opening hours and providing up-to-date facilities, catalogue access and equipment in a refurbished building. The journey started over a year ago with the purchase and implementation of a new online browser-based catalogue bringing together our legacy databases in one place. The work is ongoing and the refinements to the contents of the new Epexio system will take a few more years yet.

We are hoping to move into the Market House in 2025 but this is dependent upon availability of funding to carry out the renovation work. We are currently progressing applications to the St Ives Enterprise grant and also the Government’s Community Ownership Fund.

We also need to raise our own funds to make the move happen and to finance the running costs for new accessible opening hours, equipment and systems. We are holding an Open Day on the 15th December to give everybody a chance to see inside a building they rarely see the interior of and also enjoy a display from our Archive collections. This all needs new volunteers to help deliver the change. We would particularly welcome those volunteers with skills in fundraising, cataloguing and marketing.”

If you are able to volunteer please email the Chair at admin@stivesarchive.org and we can arrange a chat. Equally, if you are able to make a donation we would be very grateful as a registered UK charity. A donation can be made through the Donate page on the website or by contacting the team via the above email address.

Categories
History and Heritage News

2024 St Ives Archive Calendar – Preview and How to Buy

Featuring images from the St Ives Archive’s large photography collection, our 2024 calendar showcases photos of St Ives from the past and the present. Each month is a different scene around town — from the Harbour to the High Street — taking you on a nostalgic trip through time.

Calendars are £13 each including postage and can be ordered through the Archive’s online shop here. You may also pick up a calendar the next time you visit us in person for £10, or if you live in a TR26 postcode, we are happy to deliver and collect £10 cash on delivery (card payments not accepted). Email admin@stivesarchive.org or phone 01736 796408 to place your order for local delivery.

We hope you enjoy the ‘Now and Then’ theme of the calendar as much as we do! For a preview of what to expect, you can find the cover images along with an example of one month below.

Front cover of the Archive’s 2024 calendar.
A feature image from the 2024 calendar which has a ‘Now and Then’ theme.
Back cover of the Archive’s 2024 calendar.

Bonus Content:

A film made by Alban Roinard is the perfect companion to the Archive’s 2024 calendar. Roinard superimposes old photographs of St Ives on top of modern scenes around town, creating a fascinating step back in time and revealing memories from a bygone era. Watch the film below and to have your own ‘Now and Then’ memories of St Ives, consider getting one of our calendars here.

Categories
Events News

St Ives Archive at the September Festival 2023

Troika pottery

St Ives Archive is delighted to return to this year’s St Ives September Festival with two guided history walks and a specialist talk about Troika ceramics. Archive Trustee Tony Mason will be leading the ‘The History and Mystery of St Ives’ on the two Wednesdays of the Festival – 13th and 20th September – and Volunteer Madie Parkinson-Evans will be presenting ‘Troika Tales – Celebrating Ceramicists’ on Friday 22nd September.

Please see below for further details on the walks and talk along with how to book your ticket.

Please visit the September Festival’s website here to book your ticket to Madie’s ‘Troika Tales’ talk.

Categories
Events News

St Ives Archive Celebrates World Photography Day

Smeaton's Pier
Bamaluz Beach
Bamaluz Sunbathers by James Warbey

In celebration of World Photography Day on August 19, St Ives Archive is putting on a special one-week photo sale featuring 16 limited edition prints by local photographers. Beginning this Saturday and lasting until August 26, the photographs – all taken of St Ives by emerging artists and established professionals alike – will be available for £25 each on the Archive’s online shop.

The unique selection of photographs includes film, digital, black and white and colour prints portraying different aspects of St Ives: close-ups of ancient stones, atmospheric beach scenes, nostalgic townscapes and lively skatepark photography. All images were originally a part of the Archive’s Secret Photo Show in April, a two-day art sale that raised £550 for the preservation of the town’s rich photographic heritage. Since the Archive’s founding in 1996, the organisation has digitised more than 35,000 photographs, some of which date from the mid-19th century.

Tegen Veal, one of many young photographers who has a print for sale, recently finished her A levels, including one in photography, and is going to Falmouth University in September to study marine and natural history photography. When asked how the town and seaside inspire her work, Tegen said: “St Ives will always have a place in my heart because it’s where I feel at home. I love to capture this in my photography, using it as a medium to portray feelings and my perspective on life as well as little moments that catch my eye.”

St Ives Harbour
St Ives Harbour by Samuel Crookshank

Two black and white film prints by Samuel Crookshank also feature in the World Photography Day sale. St Ia’s 15th-century church tower appears in both, as seen from the harbour in one and the memorial gardens in the other. In addition to being a photographer, Samuel is a musician, poet and surfer. He said of the photo show in April, “I am honoured to attend this incredible event. What a part of history and St Ives history especially!”

Photography lies at the heart of St Ives’ history and the Archive’s collection. Opening our eyes to many facets of the town’s heritage, from fishing and mining to art and architecture, traditions and customs, St Ives Archive’s photographic database is accessible to anyone interested in the history of the parish. To celebrate the talented local photographers who continue to capture the beauty, people and stories of St Ives, make sure to visit the Archive’s online shop. All sales support our ongoing heritage work and help protect the future of our collection.

St Ives Skatepark
St Ives Skatepark II by Nik Read

The featured image of this article is Smeaton’s Pier by Tegen Veal.

Categories
Events News

Plans for a new Archive to Unlock the Secrets of Market House

Market House, St Ives

St Ives Town Council Joint Press Release  

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21 June 2023

Plans for a new Archive to Unlock the Secrets of Market House 

St Ives Town Council, working in close partnership with St Ives Archive are about to embark upon an exciting new heritage project to create an Archive Resource Centre in the centre of the town. The project’s aim is to renovate the first floor of Market House, bringing it back into community use for the first time in decades.  

The St Ives Archive, now celebrating its 27th year, was for many years located at the Parish Rooms. Following the sale of the Rooms five years ago, the Archive has operated from the Wesley Chapel in Carbis Bay, but has always aspired to return to a prominent location in the town so more people can access its wealth of important local material.  The organisation is operated by local volunteers and is self-supporting from its own fundraising activities. 

The Town Council is the owner of the Market House, a listed building built in 1832. The first-floor premises are an impressive heritage asset, retaining many original features of the old Guildhall where the Mayor and Corporation met to discuss the town’s affairs. Regular magistrate court hearings were also held, complete with original judge’s chair and prisoner cells, yet few people have had the opportunity to look inside. The building is in good shape but the upstairs rooms are in need of sensitive restoration.  

The ambition is to refurbish the upper rooms into a modern facility for reference, display and study with access for all. This will then be leased and operated by the Archive. The project will also involve the departure of the snooker club and the Council has considered this very carefully. But with the club’s dwindling membership, the community benefits of housing the Archive and the chance to restore the historic building, meant this difficult decision has been taken.  

The project will take some time to progress – the restoration work will require listed building consent for a new access.  The Council and the Archive will be working closely together over the coming months, to progress the scheme and develop a funding strategy to seek grant funding for the works.  

Councillor Tony Harris, Chair of the Finance and General Purposes Committee said:  

“This exciting project will bring together the Archive’s local treasure trove and a building with a hidden history. Although the project is at an early stage, the Council is fully committed to working with the Archive to unlock the funds needed to restore this unique building for a very fitting use. We hope it will also ensure more local people have the chance to enjoy the history of the parish.” 

Lyn Burchess, the Archive Chair said:  

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to make the  Archive a focus for the community it serves  and  also serve the wider visiting public. We look forward to working with the Town Council to make this exciting vision a reality.”

Categories
Events News

St Ives History Walk with Tony Mason: Summer Series

St Ives history walk
Categories
News

Volunteers’ Week: Meet the St Ives Archive Team

St Ives Archive logo

This Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June), St Ives Archive is celebrating their amazing volunteers without whom we would not be able to do the important heritage work that we do. While every day is Volunteers’ Day to us, we are excited to share our endless appreciation for everything that they do with the wider community.

From our longest-serving volunteer, Elaine, to our youngest volunteer, Grace, please meet some of the team below and read about their local history interests and types of projects they help bring to life at the Archive.

Ethan

Ethan has been a volunteer for 7 months and really enjoys learning about St Ives artists and art history. He loves looking through the photo archive and seeing how much the town has changed through the years. He says it’s given him a perspective he’d never have had otherwise. Most recently he loved accessioning the work of Clare White, renowned St Ives painter who designed the Arts Club posters in the 1950s and ’60s (White also became the first female President of the St Ives Arts Club in 1954). Ethan says, “It felt as though I really got to know her even though I’d never met her.”

Elaine

Elaine has been with the St Ives Archive for about 25 years now and wishes she had more time to dedicate to it, like story writing about local people. A few years ago she asked members of the local community about their by-gone-days etc, and it would be so nice to record their thoughts again on things if they didn’t mind. Elaine adds: “I won’t be here myself for that long but could write about things I remember still. When we were in St Ives, Virginia (Elaine’s friend and co-volunteer) and I used to get together older men and record their family stories.” Elaine enjoys researching family history when she’s at the Archive.

Wendy

A volunteer at the Archive for 5 years, Wendy likes learning about the social history of St Ives. In addition to organising events and creating historical displays, Wendy is currently doing an audit of the Archival boxes. She says, “It is a privilege to handle original resources and to help keep them in a safe condition for the future.”

Chris

Chris has been a volunteer for 4 and 1/2 years and is knowledgable about many aspects of St Ives history and heritage. More specifically, Chris enjoys researching local buildings and recently wrote A Short History of Brush End School, which is available for purchase on our online shop.

Grace

Joining the Archive in the summer of 2022, Grace volunteers during the school holidays. She loves the ability to see how the town has visually changed over time through: architecture, the different businesses that inhabit the shops and the town’s industries, and what this can tell us about that particular period in St Ives history. Grace also likes researching St Ives’ rich art history and in particular the works which were influenced by the Cornish landscape. She adds: “I enjoyed my first research project on the history of the Leach pottery,  Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada. This was something I had always found greatly interesting and was able to develop at the Archive.”

Penny

A volunteer for 13 years, Penny has contributed to many Archive projects since joining the team. At the moment, she especially enjoys researching the history of old houses in St Ives and has most recently been learning about Trewyn House. Some of her favourite projects she’s worked on spotlight artists who have called St Ives home like painter Bryan Pearce.

Beth

Beth became a volunteer in January 2023 and has quickly realised, like most, that there are too many interesting aspects of St Ives history to mention in one go. She finds it fascinating how the town has developed over time – the people, buildings, artists, etc. – and enjoyed learning about the life of John Passmore Edwards when creating a display for the bicentenary of his birth.

Celeste

Originally drawn to the Archive’s photos on Instagram, Celeste first started volunteering in October 2021. She loves looking through old photographs of the town and sharing them on the Archive’s Instagram and Facebook pages. Celeste also helped redesign our website last year and this April, she organised and put on the first Secret Photo Show at Harbour View House.

A huge thank you to all of our volunteers for everything that you do! We are infinitely grateful for your time, passion and dedication. Here’s to you!

To find out more about volunteering at the Archive and how to join the team, please email admin@stivesarchive.org. There are many ways you can get involved and contribute to preserving the remarkable heritage of St Ives.