UK religious archives 'at risk or lost'

Many of the UK's valuable religious archives are being lost or at risk, a new report has found.

More than a third of faith organisations are unable to protect their records against fire, flood and theft, and some institutions simply shred documents when they run out of space, according to a major national survey.

Some 41 per cent of religious archives are run by volunteers with no professional training and a number cannot carry out essential work such as cataloguing collections due to inadequate staffing levels.

The report concluded that action is needed at national and local level to preserve a wealth of historically important documents and to prevent gaps opening up in the future through the loss of digital records.

The project was carried out by the National Archives, the Archives and Records Association and the Religious Archives Group.

The report states: "The evidence we have gathered shows that despite the richness of surviving archives ranging from the medieval period to the late 20th century, much is being lost or is at risk. Few surviving collections remaining in the hands of religious institutions benefit from purpose-built or suitably adapted accommodation."