Museums And Archives

Telling the stories of North Hertfordshire – community voices, community collections

North Hertfordshire Museum opened in 2019 following the amalgamation of the former Hitchin and Letchworth Museums. It was shaped by extensive community consultation, and its success has shown how strongly people value access to their heritage. It is now time for the next step, a new museum store that allows staff and volunteers to share more than one million stored items with the public. The Council has purchased an industrial unit in Letchworth for this purpose, providing the opportunity to transform how we care for and use the collections. With grant support, a collections move officer and a volunteer manager will train and lead community volunteers to assess, rationalise, digitise and pack the stored collections. The legacy is an accessible, climate controlled and welcoming new store with regular talks, tours and training; a store where the community plays an active role in caring for, understanding and celebrating its shared heritage.