About the Project
Sharing our Stories is a community-led effort to uncover, preserve, and share the history held within St Walburge’s, Preston. Here is what we are doing, why it matters, and who is making it possible.
Bringing our history into the light
For generations, St Walburge’s Church has quietly held onto something precious: a remarkable record of its own life, hundreds of documents, photographs and papers tracing the story of the parish and the people of Preston who have made it their spiritual home.
Now, thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, that story is being lovingly brought back into the light. Through Sharing our Stories, our wonderful volunteers and University of Lancashire students are working side by side to catalogue, conserve and digitise the collection, with the friendly guidance of the team at Lancashire Archives.
When the work is done, the collection will find a permanent home with Lancashire Archives, cared for and kept safe for years to come, and open to anyone who would like to discover the rich history of our church and the community around it.
Why this project matters
The work of Sharing our Stories goes beyond cataloguing. It is about preserving a community’s heritage, building skills, and making history accessible to everyone.
The collection will be catalogued, conserved, and deposited with Lancashire Archives, ensuring it survives in good condition and remains accessible for generations to come.
Volunteers receive hands-on training in archival handling and conservation from Lancashire Archives professionals, gaining skills that extend well beyond this project.
For many volunteers and visitors, the archive offers a direct connection to the parish. A chance to find a family name in a register, a face in a photograph, or a letter from someone they once knew.
The stories emerging from the archive will be made accessible through a public exhibition, this website, and wider community engagement, bringing history to the people it belongs to.
Part of the ‘All Under One Roof’ project
A wider programme of heritage and restoration work taking place across St Walburge’s, caring for the building, its sound and its stories together.
Repair and restore the south roofs, preventing further water ingress and protecting the stunning historic interior. This new grant will enable the important section over the Sanctuary to be restored and made watertight.
A project to catalogue our archives and create and exhibition and website, in association with Lancashire Archives, University of Lancashire history students, and volunteers.
A project to preserve and share St. Walburge’s Choir through professional recordings of key Mass prayers with Global Sound Movement (GSM), accompanied by a podcast and released on open digital platforms.
Three half-day heritage workshops by UCLan School of Engineering and Global Sound Movement (GSM) for students and the public, exploring sound recording, acoustic heritage, and historic buildings.
With support from
Our Partners
Thanks to National Lottery players, the Heritage Fund provides the funding that makes Sharing our Stories possible, supporting the work of cataloguing, conserving and sharing St Walburge’s archive with the wider community.
Lancashire Archives provides professional training and guidance throughout the project and will become the permanent home of the collection, ensuring it is preserved to the highest archival standards and remains accessible for future generations.
Students from the University of Lancashire work alongside the project team, lending their skills to cataloguing the archive and the heritage work across St Walburge’s, helping form a link between the parish and the next generation of historians.
New discoveries, every step of the way
See how the project unfolded, from the first boxes to the final exhibition.