About the Leonard Cheshire Archive
Group Captain Lord Leonard Cheshire wanted to preserve the memory of those who had volunteered, worked and lived in his charities, as well as his own humanitarian work.
So in 1985 he decided to set up the Leonard Cheshire Archive Centre to further these aims, at Staunton Harold Hall in Leicestershire.
In 2005 a new purpose built one-story archive centre, accessible to wheelchair users, was built in the grounds of Newlands House in Netherseal, South Derbyshire, where we are today.
There is step free access to the building and an accessible toilet. Details of public transport can be provided upon request and there is a large car park providing free parking.
The archive contains administrative records of all charities founded by Group Captain Cheshire (including Leonard Cheshire), his personal collection and film, sound and photograph collections. Part of the film archive is curated on our behalf by the British Film Institute.
Catalogues for the collections kept at the archive (also known as ‘finding aids’ or ‘archive descriptions’) are being added to the Archives Hub and are available for members of the public to view by clicking on this link.
Our reel to reel film archive is kept at the British Film Institute, who have digitised 10 films as part of our Rewind project and more of our films can be found on their catalogue.
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire’s RAF papers and photographs have been digitised by our volunteers and can be viewed at the International Bomber Command Centre’s digital archive.
The archive is currently closed to research visits. For further information please email: archivecentre(at)leonardcheshire.org.