'Treasure trove' maps out village's 'fascinating past'

UNIQUE ARCHIVE OF BARTON-UNDER-NEEDWOOD TO BE AUCTIONED OFF

- By JOSEPH RICHARDS

A UNIQUE archive on Barton-under-Needwood is set to go under the hammer at an auction house in Fradley Park.

The 'treasure trove' tracing a century of life in the historic village flows across six albums and will be sold with Richard Winterton Auctioneers on Monday, October 13, at The Lichfield Auction Centre.

Auctioneers have placed a guide of £200 on the archive but say it could fetch far more on sale day.

The archive was collected by the late Joan Smith, who lived at Wood Cottage in Barton, part of the original Silver Hill Hall Estate.

A keen historian, Joan was fascinated by local history and collected newspaper articles, photographs, postcards and ephemera throughout her life, accumulating a comprehensive archive of the village.

Rob French, ephemera valuer at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, said: "It is a wonderful archive of the history of Barton-under-Needwood, collated over many years without the use of the internet.