Collections
The Dean Heritage Centre collects objects relevant to the natural and human made heritage of the Forest of Dean from prehistory to the present day.
The bulk of the collection relates to social and industrial history with a smaller range of items covering other areas e.g. natural history, geology, archaeology and Forest authors.
The Dean Heritage Centre archive contains thousands of documents, books, scripts, postcards, maps, oral histories and photographs on the Forest of Dean.
Access
Visitors are welcome to make an appointment to view items from the collection and carry out research in our collections room. It is open for research on items from the collection, local history, family history and a variety of topics on the Forest of Dean on Wednesday afternoons and at other times by arrangement. Our volunteer historians will be pleased to help anyone with their research.
Please email or phone ahead at least 2 weeks for an appointment. Enquiries can also be answered by email & telephone.
Our searchable collections database is available in the collections room.
Admission is by donation, we suggest £3-5 per person. Your donation will support The Dean Heritage Centre as a registered charity dedicated to protecting, preserving and promoting the unique history and heritage of the Forest of Dean.
Archaeology
Dean Heritage Centre is the designated regional repository for archaeological archives in the Forest of Dean. The Dean Heritage Centre also collects amateur archaeological finds and treasure finds.
Mining
The Dean Heritage Centre archive includes books on mining in the Forest of Dean plus photographs, documents, oral histories and plans of colliery sites and buildings.
Object donations
We collect items relevant to the Forest of Dean. If you think you have an object suitable for our collection, please contact the Collections Officer in advance, contact details below.
We do not accept items brought in without prior arrangement.
Research costs
Enquiries and research undertaken by staff/volunteers in less than an hour FREE
Research undertaken by staff/volunteers for 1 hour £10 - £20
Research undertaken by staff/volunteers for 2 hours £20 - £40
Further research by discussion. Any charges will be discussed prior to work undertaken
Reproduction
We allow copying under the terms of fair dealing. You are allowed to copy limited extracts of works when the use is non-commercial research or private study.
Consent must be obtained for commercial use and publishing any copies made at Dean Heritage Centre.
The Dean Heritage Centre charges for any paper or digital reproductions to cover costs of staff time, resources, and materials.
DHC Reproduction Policy available on request. For further information please contact the Collections Manager.
Backstage Gage
3rd Wednesday every month at 2pm March to November
Come to the Collections room to get a glimpse behind the scenes, see objects that are not on display and chat with our staff and dedicated volunteers. A great opportunity to get close to history and discover some of the many wonderful stories in our collection.
More details on the What's On page.
Contact
For any enquiries please contact Collections Officer, Nicola Wynn at 01594 822170 or Nicola@deanheritagecentre.com