Dereham Heritage Trust is proud to maintain an Archive on behalf of the Town, housed mainly in the Assembly Rooms by courtesy of the Town Council. As well as preserving documents and items of local and historical interest, the Archive acts as a store for the Museum, holding objects in the collection that are not currently on display.
Our Collection
Many of the important historical records about Dereham are stored in the Norfolk Record Office, located next to the County Hall in Norwich, but in Dereham we have many items of interest. If you would like to consult or look for anything, or if you are able to offer some time to help as a volunteer in the Archive, please get in touch with Robena Brown at archive@derehamheritagetrust.org.uk. The Archive includes most volumes of the Dereham Times (and its predecessors) back to the 1880s, owned by Newsquest but looked after by us. If you would like to consult these volumes, it is important to know the date of the item as closely as possible, for the volumes are not digitised or indexed so it can take a long time to go through issues looking for something.
We also have transcripts of gravestones and memorials from this area, prepared by Mid-Norfolk Family History Society.
Donations
Do you have anything you would like to donate to the Archive or Museum? We are always interested in items which shed light on Dereham’s past, helping us better understand it. We are particularly keen to have significant records of churches, clubs, and organisations. Unfortunately though, we are short of space and cannot accept everything, so our primary area of interest is within roughly 10 km of Dereham Town centre. Please get in touch with us first – don’t just bring it to the Museum – but if you are in any doubt, don’t throw it away. If you can, ask first via archive@derehamheritagetrust.org.uk.
Dereham Heritage Trust 