Opening of the New Wing

The arrival of the Thatcher collection, coming fast upon the acquisition of other sizeable collections, took the existing Archives Centre strongroom to capacity, requiring a new building.

Sir Denis Thatcher visited the College on 19 July 2001 and formally cut the turf for the new wing of the Churchill Archives Centre. Construction commenced in August and finished in June 2002.

Designed by Cambridge architects, Thurlow, Curtis and Carnell, the building comprises four storeys of secure archival storage. It has been constructed to an extremely high specification, designed to meet the relevant British Standard and to accord with the latest guidelines from the Historical Manuscripts Commission.

The New Wing provided the permanent home for the Thatcher papers, trebling the capacity of the Archives Centre. The Archives Centre also sought to use this opportunity to upgrade its existing facilities, and improvements include a passenger lift linking the Jock Colville Hall to the Roskill Library and reading rooms.