The Richard Burton Archives, which holds material on the rich industrial, cultural and social heritage of Wales, became the first university archive in the UK to be accredited for its high standards earlier this year.

‌Lord Clark of Windermere, Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Archives and History, led the congratulations at a celebration of Archive Service Accreditation at the House of Commons, where representatives from the first 14 archive services which have gained Accreditation were praised by Lord Clark for their hard work and their willingness to be pioneers for the wider sector.

‌Picture L – R: Assistant Archivist, Katrina Legg; Lord Clark of Windermere; Archivist, Elisabeth Bennett; Steve Williams, Deputy Director of Information Services and Systems. 

Accreditation is the UK standard for archive services.  It defines good practice and identifies agreed standards within the archive sector.  

To meet the standard, archives have to show that they are “responsive to all their stakeholders and trusted in the management of their unique collections”.

The Richard Burton Archives have over 1.3 kilometres of documents made of many materials – such as paper, parchment and photographs – kept in secure and temperature-controlled conditions. Its treasures include:

• World War One material, including trade union records, company papers, school log books and photographs 

• The South Wales Coalfield Collection, an internationally important research resource, providing a unique picture of life in the coalfield valleys during the late nineteenth and the twentieth centuries,

• The Richard Burton collection, including the diaries kept by the Port Talbot-born actor from 1940 through to the 1980s, recently published with worldwide coverage

• Family collections of prominent Swansea industrialists, including the Vivians, Dillwyns and Morrises

• Local business records, including copper, tinplate and steel, and the famous Mumbles Railway

• Documents relating to the history of the University since it was founded in 1920, and to student life at Swansea through the ages, such as pictures and rag mags 

Picture: Archivist Katrina Legg shows history students some of the collections in secure and temperature-controlled conditions in the archives.

Elisabeth Bennett, Swansea University archivist, said: "We are very proud to be the first archive service in Wales, and the first university service in the UK to achieve the Archive Service Accreditation. 

“Accreditation has been a really positive experience for us. We are finding that the concept of Accreditation is widely valued, and it has significantly raised our profile within Swansea University and outside. We were delighted to celebrate our achievement at this special event”.

More information on the Richard Burton Archives. The Archives are open to all.

‌Archive Services Accreditation is awarded by a committee representing the entire archive sector in the UK. This includes:

• The National Archives
• Welsh Government Cymal programme
• Archive offices for Scotland and Northern Ireland
• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
• Archives and Records Association
• Scottish Council on Archives
• Archives and Records Council Wales