Marvels of the month

Every week, a wide assortment of archive documents and local studies material from a variety of sources passes through our doors to join the six miles of records in our strongrooms. Behind the scenes, we work closely with the records, diligently cataloguing, cleaning, conserving and packaging them so that they can be made available to the public. It's work that we thoroughly enjoy, and everyone here has a tale to tell: whether it's the story behind a favourite book, the background to an unusual collection, or how we repaired a very fragile document.

Each month, the Surrey Heritage teams showcase their own particular "Marvels of the Month".

The Marvels will return in February 2020.

Our December Marvel of the Month celebrated the historical development of Guildford High Street through documents, illustrations and maps held at Surrey History Centre.

Guildford's High Street

For our November Marvel of the Month, copies of a home-produced newspaper by a Thames Ditton family painted a charming picture of life on the home front during the First World War.

A Family at War: the Eaton Cottage Herald

Our October Marvel, for Black History Month, revealed the inspiring story of an American inventor and entrepreneur who played an important part in the British war effort in Surrey.

Lucean Arthur Headen - an African American inventor in Camberley

For our September Marvel of the Month, letters of Lady Wallis held in our archives gave a valuable insight into the life and mind of her husband, inventor Sir Barnes Wallis.

Sir Barnes Wallis at Surrey History Centre

For our August Marvel of the Month, Surrey County Archaeological Unit's excavations at North Park Farm Quarry, Bletchingley, revealed the development of a landscape through 10 millennia.

What did the Normans do for us?

Our July Marvel of the Month featured a fascinating album compiled by Surrey County Council employee, Winifred Hutchings, recording bomb damage to County Hall during the Second World War.

The wartime bombing of County Hall, Kingston

For our June Marvel of the Month, to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, records held at Surrey History Centre told the story of Surrey's role in the Normandy Landings.

On 6 June 1944, it was announced: "D-Day has come..."

Our May Marvel of the Month revealed Vernon Lushington's admiration for the work of the great American poet, Walt Whitman.

Walt Whitman in the Lushington archive

Our April Marvel of the Month told the story of Cecil Gordon Vokes whose engineering company played an important role in Surrey's 20th century industrial history.

Vokes Engineering Ltd of Henley Park, Normandy, Guildford

Our March Marvel, for Women's History Month, delved into the complex marriage settlement of Augusta Ada Byron, better known as Ada Lovelace, the mathematician and computer pioneer.