About Us
Who we are
Steeple Aston Village Archive is a self-financing, non-profit-making, registered charity – a village community organisation of unpaid volunteer residents. It relates to the two villages of Steeple Aston and Middle Aston in Oxfordshire, England. The Archive was inaugurated on 11th January 2000, and was officially 'opened' on 25th September 2000, by the Oxfordshire County Archivist, Carl Boardman, D.A.S. The Trustees meet regularly as the Archive Management Group, assisted by additional selected volunteers.
What we do
The function of the archive is to collect and preserve documents and material reflecting the life and times of our villages and their heritage. In September 2013 we moved from our outdated accommodation to the new purpose-built Village History Centre. Access to the archive is available to visitors, and also more widely through a variety of media, including this website, for those who have moved away from the villages or for others researching ancestors, etc.
SAVA produces regular articles on aspects of the history of Steeple and Middle Aston in the local newsletter 'Steeple Aston Life', and always responds to enquiries from people working on family history. Some of the many photographs held in the archive have been produced as CDs, as have copies of two historical books about the villages and back copies of the local newsletter. There is also a growing list of printed publications produced by SAVA (see shop). The History Centre is housed adjacent to the Village Hall, by courtesy of the Parish Council and Village Hall sub-committee, and the main hall is also hired for our archive events.
SAVA produces an annual exhibition in the village hall each November, drawing on material collected in the archive and also carrying out original research on the chosen theme. A high-quality booklet is usually produced on the theme of the exhibition. Members of the group work on developing material for the next theme over many months, and attempt to engage local people in various ways wherever possible. Another annual event held in the hall is the Spring talk, at which an invited expert speaks and answers questions on a topic of local interest.
Finance and sponsorship
The Heritage Lottery Fund kindly funded equipment and project work for us during 2004/5, and a further equipment grant was made by the Oxfordshire Community Foundation in 2009. The new History Centre was funded by grants from the Viridor Environmental Fund, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire Rural Community Council, Dr Radcliffe’s School Foundation Trust, Steeple Aston Parish Council and the Village Hall management committee. The Parish Council assists financially with a modest annual grant but otherwise we are dependent on sales of booklets and CDs, voluntary donations and sponsorship for our day-to-day running costs, lectures and exhibitions. We may make a small charge if copies of documents or photographs are requested. Admittance to our events and exhibitions is free (although we encourage donations).