Living history archive

HISTORY lovers are being given the chance to gain an insight into the life and times of leading Cheshire families.

Archivists have spent 18 months cataloguing 11,000 letters, maps, wills, deeds and bills amassed by the Shakerley and Leicester-Warren families over eight centuries.

The Shakerleys, of Somerford Booths, near Congleton, and the Leicester-Warrens, of Tabley Hall, Knutsford, were major landowners, and played prominent roles in the government of Cheshire.

Thanks to a £38,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, catalogues and indexes will be available for inspection or can be viewed on line at www.cheshire.gov.uk/recoff.home.htm