Walter Wade`s Boundary

From Ox Moor to Batcliff Wood, Otley Turnpike to Kepstorn the boundaries of his parkland were defined. However, these borders were porous and transient and have shifted over time; from medieval origins, through the Wades, the Becketts and beyond to the estates incarnation as a College and University. Perceived borders of a different kind are being altered as slowly but steadily the idea of constituting an archive for Leeds Met is coming to fruition. The Library has responded positively to the initiative of an archive and moved beyond traditional library culture, stepping outside its own boundaries. Archive methodology and culture are related but significantly different to that of Libraries.

The publication of City of Leeds Training College: Continuity and Change 1907-2007, has stimulated positive new interest in the University’s heritage. Over recent months a ‘map’ of the archive contents was produced employing ISAD(G) archive standard descriptions.  Recently these have been uploaded to Access to Archives, potentially allowing greater access to our small but growing resource. Already new acquisitions have changed this ‘map’ of the archive adjusting its boundaries just as happened to Walter Wade’s of 1766.

First Published as Research Reflection 9 January 2008