Among our holdings in the Foundation Archive is a wonderful collection of building plans, from a 1900 floorplan of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels to 1990s development plans for Crescent School, and elevations of Crackley Hall in the early 2000s (look out for a feature on our building plans in the Spring edition of the Old Princethorpians newsletter!) 

To ensure that this collection is housed in the very best conditions for its long-term preservation, we are looking to acquire a plan chest within the next year. This will enable the plans to be stored within large-format archive quality folders, which will also assist with the arrangement of, and access to, the collection. 

Plan chests can be very costly when bought new, but we know that they are an item which occasionally becomes surplus to requirements in some organisations – so we would like to ask for your help! If any of our readers happen to hear of an A0 or A1 size plan chest which is looking for a new home in the next year, we’d be very grateful if you could let us know. Please email archives@princethorpe.co.uk with any details. Thank you!