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Princess Anne arrives at The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

MORE than 100 schoolchildren and well wishers flocked to the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre today to see Princess Anne officially open the building this afternoon.

The Princess Royal drove herself into the car park in her Land Rover and jumped out to greet a line-up of guests including North Wiltshire MP James Gray and HM lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire Mr John Bush OBE.

Pupils from Monkton Park Primary School sang If You're Happy And You Know It just moments before the Princess arrived.

She was then ushered into the £11.1million building for a tour around the temperature controlled research rooms, laboratories and public search rooms. Royal fans Dick and Maureen Buckley, both 70, of Eastern Avenue, waited patiently for the Princess to arrive.

Mrs Buckley said: "We used to live in Windsor so we watched Princess Anne grow up and its always interesting to know what she is up to.

"I think it is lovely that she is visiting the centre because it is the best attribute of the town."

The area was also patrolled by armed police with dogs and undercover agents.

Based in Cocklebury Road in Chippenham, the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre has been designed to make researching a family tree and investigating local history both fun and approachable.

It was built on time and under budget by Wiltshire County Council and Swindon Borough Council who are committed to helping people to discover, participate and contribute to local history.

Princess Anne arrives at The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

Princess Anne was given a tour of the building by Jane Scott, leader of Wiltshire County Council, Rod Bluh, leader of Swindon Borough Council, and Tom Craig, heritage services manager at the county council.

She saw some of the conservation work being undertaken at the centre including the restoration of maps, conserving ancient remains, recording of important documents and its vast collections of records.

At the end of the visit the Princess cut a cake to celebrate the formal opening and unveiled a commemorative plaque. She was presented with a posy by ten-year-old Monkton Park Primary School pupil Eleanor Thomas.

Representatives from the groups involved in the design and construction of the centre were at also the ceremony.

The visit comes as The National Archives announced this week that the centre has been formally approved and appointed as a place for public records. This follows a full inspection of the centre by the national body earlier this year.

Earlier this month it was revealed the state-of-the-art building was also in the running for a design award.

The state-of-the-art building is one of nine to be short listed for the SCALA (The Society of Chief Architects of Local Authorities) Civic Building of the Year Competition 2008. The awards will be made at the SCALA Conference in Nottingham on November 7.

More than 10,000 people have visited the centre since it opened to the public at the end of October in 2007.

The new archive meets the national standards for archive storage, and improved access at the centre is delivered through larger reading rooms, better internet facilities, and an education room for schools that can also be used by groups for lectures and demonstrations.

Jane Scott, leader of Wiltshire County Council, said: "I am delighted The Princess Royal has officially opened the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre.

"This ceremony gave us an opportunity to celebrate the key role the centre is playing in helping thousands of people to trace their family trees and learn more about local history."

Councillor Rod Bluh, leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: "The building shows how we can invest in new designs for the future which preserve and honour our past. I will do everything I can to encourage people to make good use of this archive and its resources."

2:28pm Friday 9th May 2008

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