His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester officially opened The Hold on Tuesday 14 September.
The Duke was given a tour of the building, which is home to more than nine centuries of history safely preserved by Suffolk Archives.
His Royal Highness was greeted by Suffolk’s Lord Lieutenant, Clare, Countess of Euston, as well as a line-up of civic guests, and was then shown round by Kate Chantry, Strategic Manager of Suffolk Archives.
During the visit, The Duke met Tim Greenacre, Chief Operating Officer at the University of Suffolk, Dr Harvey Osborne, Course Leader for BA (Hons) History and students, and saw the state-of-the-art teaching facilities including a 200-seat auditorium and seminar rooms.
Lord-Lieutenant, Clare, Countess of Euston then gave a short history of the Suffolk Medal, including showing a replica which is on display in the building’s main street.
Representatives from local history groups were introduced to The Duke in the John Blatchly Local Studies Library, named in honour of the esteemed local educator, author and historian.
The Duke was shown treasures from the Suffolk Archives collections spanning 900 years of Suffolk’s history, including the oldest document – a Charter of King Henry I granting churches and property to the monks of Eye Priory from around 1119 – and the newest contemporary collections of Black Lives Matter protest placards.
His Royal Highness also met representatives from organisations that contributed to The Hold, including the National Lottery Heritage Fund which awarded nearly £11million to make the project possible, as well as those involved in the design and construction of the building.
To complete the visit to The Hold, His Royal Highness unveiled a plaque to declare the building officially open and signed a book which will be added to the archive as a record of the visit.
