LISKEARD will soon have a brand new research centre for those wanting to discover more about their local and family history.

Based at Stuart House in Barras Street, the research hub will be free to use and will give users access to local maps, parish records, census material and websites relevant to researchers, together with the possibility of printing copies of pages at a small cost.

Digital copies of the first editions of the Cornish Times from 1857-1900 – much sought after by mining, social and family historians – will also be available.

The project has been developed by the Caradon Hill Area Heritage Project (CHAHP) and the Stuart House Trust with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and DEFRA – and it is a fantastic boost for Liskeard and surrounding area, say project manager for CHAHP Iain Rowe and Stuart House trustee Dr Tony Piper, who were on site this week ahead of the official opening of the suite on Friday, February 1.

'The Caradon Hill Area Heritage Project aims to involve local residents in all aspects of their history and landscape, and celebrate local distinctiveness,' said Iain.

'The ability to find out about the physical and social past of the area is crucially important to those seeking to understand how the area we live and work in evolved.'

Iain continued: 'Resources and archives in Cornwall have been very much concentrated in the west of the county. It's important that we maintain some of these resources here in South East Cornwall – especially those that are relevant to this part of the county.

'Our aim is to build up a digital archive as we go along, so that research done by local groups or individuals can be loaded onto the system.'

Iain hopes to be able to run courses from the centre, as well as open up the suite to school groups and people who may be interested in using the movie-making and music software available on its four state-of- the-art computers.

'This is the fulfilment of a long-standing ambition to widen the appreciation of Liskeard's history out from Stuart House to the community,' said trustee Dr Tony Piper. 'The CHAHP relies on partner groups who have similar interests and aims all working together.'

Anyone interested in using the new research suite should contact the Stuart House Trust by calling 01579 347347 or by emailing [email protected]">[email protected]