TWO miles of archive material has been removed from the city centre church that has been the county's Record Office for more than 40 years.

Worcestershire County Council took over St Helen's Church in Fish Street, Worcester, in 1956, for the storage of records, some of which date back hundreds of years.

One of the most impressive items to be moved was an 25ft square 1870s map of Worcester's sewerage network.

"We had to empty the room and pass it through a number of shelves," said Teresa Nixon the former head of repositories at St Helen's.

"It's one of the biggest maps you will ever see. It has only been opened a handful of times.

"There are very few maps drawn up to this size and scale. It shows all the houses in the city centre."

The county council closed the office last year, and yesterday, the building was officially handed back to the parish through Philip Jones, the Diocesan property adviser.

"It's the end of an era," said Miss Nixon, who is now the head of repositories at the Worcester Libraries and History Centre in Trinity Street.

"There are a number of reasons why we moved. St Helen's is an old building and there are a number of conditions we need to keep archives."

The map and all the other records will now be kept at County Hall.

Some items have been moved to the Libraries and History Centre.

No definite plans have been made for the future of St Helen's.

TWO miles of archive material has been removed from the city centre church that has been the county's Record Office for more than 40 years.

Worcestershire County Council took over St Helen's Church in Fish Street, Worcester, in 1956, for the storage of records, some of which date back hundreds of years.

One of the most impressive items to be moved was an 25ft square 1870s map of Worcester's sewerage network.

"We had to empty the room and pass it through a number of shelves," said Teresa Nixon the former head of repositories at St Helen's.

"It's one of the biggest maps you will ever see. It has only been opened a handful of times.

"There are very few maps drawn up to this size and scale. It shows all the houses in the city centre."

The county council closed the office last year, and yesterday, the building was officially handed back to the parish through Philip Jones, the Diocesan property adviser.

"It's the end of an era," said Miss Nixon, who is now the head of repositories at the Worcester Libraries and History Centre in Trinity Street.

"There are a number of reasons why we moved. St Helen's is an old building and there are a number of conditions we need to keep archives."

The map and all the other records will now be kept at County Hall.

Some items have been moved to the Libraries and History Centre.

No definite plans have been made for the future of St Helen's.