Our Unique Archive

Squirrelled away on the first floor of the Council Offices in Leiston will be found a unique collection of archived material curated by Alde Valley Suffolk Family History Group over many years. In many instances these records will not be found at well-known subscription sites or local archives, such as The Hold, Ipswich.

A comprehensive list of our collections can be downloaded by clicking here: Index of Archives; however, some notable highlights include:

Monumental Inscriptions

The group has completed several local graveyard surveys, the results of which are held either as hard-copies and/or in some instances as digitised ‘Word’ documents or ‘Excel’ spreadsheets. The completed surveys include churchyards at Aldringham, Benhall, Eastbridge, Kelsale and Leiston. The surveys for Aldringham and Leiston extend to the Baptist chapel and municipal cemetery respectively.

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War Memorials

Transcriptions of several monuments capturing details of lives lost during the two World Wars. These are included in the listing of Monumental Inscriptions shown above.

Leiston Grammar School Photographs

This unique collection features black and white photographs of sports’ teams (Football, Cricket, Tennis and Netball) spanning the years 1934 – 1968. There are also several ‘whole school’ panoramic photographs available, although none of these prove that it was possible to appear twice in the same shot by running quickly from one side of the group to the other because of the long shutter exposure!

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Maps

Acquired from an old surveyor’s office in 2019, a large collection of flat Ordnance Survey maps at a scale of 25 inches to the mile (1:2500) is stored in a dedicated map chest. In keeping with our geographical locations, the coverage is biased towards East Suffolk and the Alde Valley in particular.

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Publications

We hold numerous books written by local authors offering a unique perspective on the history of East Suffolk and lives steeped in agricultural and maritime traditions. By way of example, the following three texts hold particular appeal for family and local historians: From Flint Knappers to Atom Splitters - charts the history of Leiston-cum-Sizewell; Aldeburgh Diary - traces the history of Aldeburgh and its people and Our story of Saxmundham – described as ‘History and tales from an East Suffolk Market Town. We also have available a broad selection of ‘Pen and Sword’ family history guide books, currently on loan to Leiston library.

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Other 

A wide range of other material including Suffolk Street Directories, selective Parish Registers on Microfiche and some Oral Histories.

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