Projects

Over the years, the Archives and Special Collections has been involved in several projects covering a variety of topics. Many of these projects have been a collaboration with institutions and societies etc. outside the University and have resulted in an increase in understanding of our collections and of the history of north Wales.

Here are a few examples of projects that we’ve been involved in over the years.

Unearthing Anglesey’s mining heritage – The Records of the Mona and Parys Mines Co. Ltd. (2019)

The Archives and Special Collections has received £8,408 from the National Manuscript Conservation Trust and the Welsh Government towards a conservation project.

The Records of the Mona and Parys Mines Co. Ltd consists of account books, minute books, papers, deeds, plans, copy letter books and box files of correspondence etc. dating between 1786-1958.

In the late 18th century - early 19th centuries, the Mona and Parys Mines Company became the dominant producers of copper on a global scale and nearly brought the famous Cornish copper mines to its knees.

The records have been in the hands of Bangor University since 1990 but have been inaccessible to readers due to their physical condition – the whole group is extremely dirty with evidence of mould and insect attack and contamination with guano in some instances. The cleaning, conservation and packaging project that we propose will enable the archivist to undertake immediate cataloguing work and will, also ensure the long-term preservation of the collection.

It is believed that this project will create a renewed interest in business, industrial and mining records at Bangor University and will assist researchers to build upon their existing knowledge of this important industry – using it in conjunction with other similar documents in the care of Bangor University, in particular, the Mona Mine Papers and the Records of the Williams and Grenfell’s Copper Smelting Firm.  

The collection has the potential to contribute further to our understanding of the importance of the mining industry in Anglesey and its effect on other industries in the UK and further afield.

Work on the project will commence in June 2019.

The Welsh Experience of World War I 1914-1918 (2013-2014)

Bangor University was involved in a mass digitisation project of World War I primary sources. The aim of the project was to make available a coherent, consolidated digital collection of source materials which were fragmented throughout Wales.

Amongst the partners of the ‘The Welsh Experience of World War I 1914-1918’ were the National Library of Wales, Jisc, Swansea University, Aberystwyth University, BBC Wales, People’s Collection Wales, Archives Wales and University of Wales Trinity St. David.

Bulkeley Diaries (2013-2014)

In conjunction with Llên Natur, Cymdeithas Edward Llwyd, and Anglesey County Council a transcript was produced of the Bulkeley diaries (Henblas A Mss, 18-19) held at Bangor University. The project culminated in the transcript being made available online, alongside digitised images of the pages from the Bulkeley diaries with the option for users to conduct a quick search throughout all the pages by typing a name or keyword into the search box.

Glaniad  (2005-2006)

‘Glaniad’ was a partnership project to digitise items of cultural and historical significance to Wales and Patagonia. The project resulted in the creation of a searchable gallery of digitised images and a trilingual website consisting of themes and articles which provide educational interpretation of the digitised items.

Partners in the project were CyMAL, Culturenet Cymru, the National Library of Wales, the University of Wales Bangor Archives and Library, and various organisations in Patagonia.

Archives Hub (1999-2001)

In 1999 Bangor University was invited to contribute data to the Archives Hub – a major national gateway to archive collections held in UK universities and colleges, forming part of the National Archives Network. Grants were received on two separate occasions to appoint 2 project archivists who were involved in creating collection level descriptions of our archival holdings.

Melville Richards Place-Name Archive (1994-2004)

The project to convert the Melville Richards Place-Name Archive into a database has its roots as far back as 1994 when a post was established at the University, funded by the Board of Celtic Studies, to begin creating a database from the research slips. A major AHRB grant was awarded to complete the database in a three-year project (2001-2004). The project was led by Professor Hywel Wyn Owen and based in the Place-Name Research Centre at Bangor University.