Gloucestershire Police Archives
Woman Police Constable Cindy Purnell, first female dog handler in Gloucestershire Constabulary with German Shepherd Charlie, 1990. (Gloucestershire Police Archives URN 533)
Gloucestershire Constabulary is England's oldest county force and has records dating from 1839 to prove it!. The Police were key partners in the ‘For the Record’ transformation project, which ran from 2015-2019 and allowed us to focus on making their fascinating archive more accessible.
What did the project achieve?
- creation of the 'Chester Master' room, (named after a former Chief Constable) at the Heritage Hub as a permanent home for the Constabulary’s Archive Officer and her volunteers
- transfer of the Force’s growing community archive into Gloucestershire Archives strongrooms, joining the Constabulary’s official archives
- a programme of police archive inspired community events
- the Gloucestershire Police Archives website which showcases documents from the Constabulary’s rich archive collections