The Group originated in 1989 under the leadership of Trevor Hill as part of the St Andrew’s Church 900 celebrations. The group was called the St Andrew’s Archive Group.
When Trevor Hill left Shifnal, the group was led by Dr Sylvia Watts. Under her leadership the members were very active in transcribing and indexing primary sources such as the parish registers, 1841-1901 censuses and trade directories. These resources are now in the Exhibition.
Sylvia personally researched and published ‘A history of Shifnal’ – the main source of information about Shifnal – and many shorter articles. She led groups in publishing ‘A pictorial history of Shifnal’, ‘Some Shifnal buildings and people’ and smaller publications on Shifnal schools and the Workhouse.
The old Fire Station was developed into a community space through a grant of £40,000 from Veolia organised by Gerald Nickless BEM, current chairman of this group, and Peter Hurlstone, former Shifnal Town Council clerk.
The exhibition first opened to the public in 2010. Since then we have opened the exhibition twice per week on Fridays, 2 – 4pm, and Saturdays 10am – 12 noon.
The group’s name was changed to Shifnal Local History Group in 2012.
At this time, the Shifnal Local History Group is made up of 24 volunteers who staff and organise the Exhibition and maintain and develop the displays
We receive c900 visitors each year – mostly from Shifnal but also further afield.
We work on projects with other Shifnal groups, councils, churches, schools and organisations.
We receive the ongoing support of Shifnal Town Council.
We are currently applying for the King’s Award for Voluntary Service
