Hidden treasures unearthed from Sunderland's long unopened archives

Julia Barthram joins curators exploring the archives.

Storerooms at Sunderland Museum have been explored for the first time in years - with the treasures discovered being used to help shape future exhibitions.

Sunderland's rich history is told by thousands of objects on display in the Museum and Winter Gardens. Behind the scenes there are even more treasures, hidden away in 19 store rooms all packed to the brim."Around nine of them haven't been opened for a long period of time." Anneke Hackenbroich, Collections Care Manager, explains. "When I started you actually couldn't open the roller racking system, objects were piled so high on top."Anneke has been brought in to explore the archives, funded by a three hundred thousand pounds grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, awarded to help draw up detailed plans for a multi-million pound re development of the museum.

In the autumn, a bid will be made for Lottery funding to support an 11 million pound revamp of the Museum and Winter Gardens.

Proposals include the potential to move the main entrance into Mowbray Park, transforming the ground floor with a new central atrium space and new galleries as well as more family friendly activities and exhibitions.

The redevelopment will also create a new learning and engagement zone.

"At first I thought, 'wow, this is going to be a big job'", Anneke said. "But I quite enjoy it as like a big treasure hunt, because you open a box and you never know what you actually might find."From toys to tools, the aim is to decide which objects should be displayed in future.

Many of the boxes being opened haven't been seen in years and the contents aren't recorded.

Amongst the objects found were index cards of people who worked in the shipyards during the second world war - including their names, addresses and photos.

A few weeks later, unidentified, numbered metal tags were discovered. It's believed the tags were passes to ensure tight security in the Port during wartime. "As soon as you can link names and peoples characteristics to an object then you have a very strong story," said Anneke.Consultation with people across Sunderland will help decide which items come out of the archive. With more than a hundred thousand items believed to be stored away, it's a huge task.

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