iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Princethorpe College celebrates its 60th anniversary today! On 15 September 1966, the College opened its doors for the first time as a boys’ school, welcoming 197 day and boarding pupils. 📷 Fr Fleming MSC, first Headmaster; Pupils in the Lime Walk; First College admissions register #SchoolArchive

Black and white photograph of a priest walking up steps to enter a nineteenth-century building

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

We’re looking forward to taking part in #HeritageOpenDays 2026! We’ll be running guided tours of our College on Sunday 20 Sept - all tours are now fully booked, but please contact us at archives@princethorpe.co.uk if you’d like to join the waiting list. www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-e...

Colour photograph of Princethorpe College quad, showing nineteenth-century brick buildings surrounding an ornamental garden with a bench in the centre. The College's chapel with its turreted tower is in the background.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Archives sometimes turn up in surprising places… These two documents, recording the construction of the new St Mary's Priory school wing in 1875-6, were found lodged inside one of its walls during renovation work in 1969. They are now safely housed in our strongroom! #EYASurprise #SchoolArchives

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Today is the feast of St Lawrence, the patron saint of archivists and librarians. Here he is on the Altar of the Sacred Heart in our Chapel (just a little out of focus, as he’s very high up!)

Photograph of an early nineteenth-century carved wooden statue of St Lawrence, holding a palm branch and a gridiron, the symbols of his martyrdom.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

It's been a busy summer term! We’ve been… - marking the 125th anniversary of our Chapel - celebrating 30 years of co-ed - delivering our first #CarbonLiteracy Training - starting an oral history project for our College's 60th anniversary - and preparing to implement a #DigitalPreservation system!

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Some rather colourful language here from a St Mary’s Priory schoolgirl... by late nineteenth-century standards, at least! 📷 Memories of an alumna who attended the school 1896-1900, printed in Peeps of Princethorpe magazine 1960. #EYAColourful #SchoolArchive #ExploreYourArchive

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

We had a lovely time at our College Open Evening on Wednesday, helping Year 5 children become Archives Detectives. Always enjoy seeing families’ excitement when they step into our beautiful College library too - as a former chapel, it's a pretty stunning place to spend an evening! #SchoolArchives

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

For this month’s #ExploreYourArchive theme of Handwriting, we’re taking a peep inside the memoir of Caroline Amherst, who joined St Mary’s Priory as Sister Mary Editha in 1843. Within the volume are several notes and scraps of letters – some perfectly legible, others a bit less so! #EYAHandwriting

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

We’ve been struggling to think of something for this month’s #ExploreYourArchive theme of Crime, but we've finally found one that fits the bill perfectly… our College’s boarding corridor décor, 1999 👀🕶️ Thankfully for our eyes, we're now very much back to neutral tones! #EYACrime #SchoolArchives

A view down a carpeted corridor towards a window, with parts of the walls and woodwork painted in orange, bright yellow and blue. A table and two chairs are placed near one of the doorways, with a lamp and goldfish bowl on the table.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

We’re marking #EarthDay2026 by delivering #CarbonLiteracy Training! Our Carbon Literate certified archivist has recently begun delivering this impactful training to colleagues in our schools, and we’re excited to be running our second session today 🌍🌱 @carbonliteracy.bsky.social #OurPowerOurPlanet

A colourful collage image created by schoolchildren, showing plants, birds and sea creatures beneath a rainbow on which are the words 'Welcome to a New World. Recycled by J3!' Planets and stars feature in the sky above.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

School holidays mean it’s time for us to take down last term’s display, and start work on next term’s. … and the office floor turns into a display planning space! (no archives were harmed in the planning of this display - facsimiles only on the floor...) #SchoolArchives #WorkInProgress

Sign reading 'New archives display coming soon!' placed on a green background.

Photograph showing an office floor, with printouts of photographs and display captions arranged across it. Measuring tapes are arranged around them, and a notepad is lying nearby.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Altar of the Sacred Heart in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels, St Mary’s Priory, c.1901. In 1904 this wooden altar was replaced by a stone one, donated by Mother Mary Gabriel at her profession. #SchoolArchives #CatholicArchives #CatholicHistory #ChurchHistory

Photograph of a side chapel in a church, showing two stone archways leading to an ornate wooden altar decorated with flowers, with a gallery above.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Happy St Patrick's Day! With many Irish boarders among their numbers, the girls of St Mary's Priory School always took great delight in celebrating St Patrick's. A full day of festivities took place 100 years ago today! 📷 Peeps of Princethorpe school magazine, 1926 #SchoolArchives #StPatricksDay

Image showing an entry from a school magazine, which reads as follows:
March 17th - St. Patrick's! The English feted the Irish. In the
morning there was a match between the English and Irish. The goals,
5-0, were in favour of the Irish. The match was followed by story
books until lunch, which we had as usual in the Refectory. It was very
prettily decorated by the English. Bourse Sweet Selling followed and
then we had Sports for the Irish, Honoria Sweetman and Pam More
O'F errall won. After tea we had hide-and-seek indoors, it was great fun and is one of our favourite (and rarest!) treats. Supper next (the cooks really rose to the occasion! So did we!) Then Competitions with jolly little prizes-then Dancing and bed.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

A blunderbuss in the library, abseiling out of dormitory windows, and a herd of photogenic cows… Could all be describing business as usual at the Foundation Archives, but on this occasion these were just a few of the stories shared with pupils and staff in our #SchoolArchivesDay talk yesterday!

A presentation slide titled '"The most-drawn cows in the Midlands", 1971', showing two black and white photographs of cows being drawn by schoolboys.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Busy #research times here at the Archive! We had a fascinating return trip to the Library of Birmingham last week to look at records of our Chapel in the Hardman archives. You can read all about our first visit here: bit.ly/4s6JQ90 A big thank you to @theironroom.bsky.social and Birmingham Museums!

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Happy #WorldBookDay! 📷 Bookplate design, 1935, for books presented by the Princethorpe Association (St Mary’s Priory alumnae) to prizewinning schoolgirls. On approving the design, one of the nuns wrote that ‘we have all fallen in love with it, and think it is one of the nicest we have seen’.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Yesterday was the birthday of neo-Gothic architect Augustus Welby #Pugin (1812-1852). Pugin designed the East window for the old chapel at St Mary's Priory (now our College Library), and the stunning processional cross (now in the V&A's collections; 📷 at V&A's 2025 Makers of Modern Gothic display).

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

A Science lab was added to St Mary’s Priory School in 1936, when General Science was introduced to the curriculum. The schoolgirls embraced the new subject – and, as this excerpt from the 1952 school magazine shows, always welcomed additions to their science equipment! #WomenInScience #GirlsInSTEM

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

A list of those from Princethorpe who served at the Front or in the Forces, including the fallen. Several either worked on the St Mary’s Priory estate, or were sons of those who did. Their names live on here in our Chapel at Princethorpe College. #ArmisticeDay #WeWillRememberThem

Illuminated manuscript in a wooden frame, titled 'Princethorpe Men at the Front or in the Forces'. Two columns of names are underneath, with dates of death added against some of the names.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

It's the school holidays here at Princethorpe, but we're keeping busy in the archives! Current projects include: - planning next term's display - preparing a commemorative booklet for Crackley Hall's 80th anniversary - cleaning the strongroom Ghostbusters-style with this marvellous contraption.

Photograph of a grey backpack vacuum cleaner sitting on a carpeted floor, with metal rolling archive shelving in the background.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Spotted amongst the St Mary's Priory school magazines... an unknown artist (one of the schoolgirls perhaps, or maybe a child of one of the alumnae?) had a good go at copying the logo! #ArchiveDoodles #SchoolArchive

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

The small lake in our College grounds was formed in the early 1830s, when clay was dug out to make the bricks used in building St Mary’s Priory. As the area developed its own natural beauty, it reminded the nuns of an Alpine landscape – hence the name ‘Switzerland’! #EYANature #ExploreYourArchive

A black and white postcard showing a small lake surrounded by mature trees and bushes. There is a white stone cross on a small island near the far bank of the lake. The words 'St Mary's Priory, Princethorpe' are printed in red on the lower left of the postcard, and the word 'Switzerland' is printed in red italics on the lower right.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

We’re looking forward to taking part in Heritage Open Days again this year! The theme for 2025 is Architecture – and what better excuse to show off our beautiful buildings ⛪ Tours are filling up fast, so don’t leave it too late if you’d like to join us: www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-e...

Photograph showing the interior of an ornately decorated nineteenth-century chapel, looking towards the altar, with wooden pews in the foregound.

Black and white postcard showing an aerial view of a nineteenth-century priory including a chapel with bell tower, surrounded by fields and woodland. The words 'St Mary's Priory, Princethorpe, Nr Rugby' are printed at the lower left of the postcard.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

A busy day out on Monday, with a visit to the stunning Oxford Oratory to see some of the items in their collections relating to St Mary’s Priory, followed by a fascinating talk at the Bodleian on the Reading the Room heritage libraries project. Enjoyed this #archives quiz at the Bodleian too ;)

Photograph of the ornately-decorated interior of a nineteenth-century Catholic church, showing the sanctuary with the altar in the foreground, statues of the saints and stained glass windows above.

Photograph of a screen showing the launch page for a quiz, with the question 'What type of archivist are you?'

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

It was great to share our history and collections with visiting families at Princethorpe College Open Evening yesterday – we had some fantastic budding Archives Detectives! As you can see in the background, Harry Potter also kindly dropped in to give us a hand… #SchoolArchive #SchoolLibraries

Photograph of a display board set up on a table, displaying archive photographs and captions. Copies of archive material, question sheets and pencils are also set out on the table, with signs saying 'Become an Archives Detective!' Further display boards and a Harry Potter cardboard cut-out are in the background.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Did you know today is #InternationalDayOfPotato? Potatoes were a very successful crop on the farm at St Mary’s Priory. As this extract from the 1964 school magazine shows, it was all hands on deck when potato picking time came round, and the schoolgirls were pleased to earn some extra pocket money!

Extract from a 1964 school magazine, recording the schoolgirls' achievement of picking fifteen tons of potatoes on September 21st, 22nd and 24th.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Currently doing some work on our #DigitalPreservation here in the Foundation Archive. We’re not quite at this stage yet though... Image: @xkcd.com #DigiPres #SchoolArchive

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

It’s #InternationalNursesDay, and we’re saying a big thank you to our wonderful school nurses past and present for all their hard work in looking after our students. 📷 New Matron and Assistant Matron at Princethorpe College, Princethorpe Magazine 1974. #NursesDay #SchoolArchive

A black and white photograph of two women standing side by side on a lawn with trees in the background. The woman on the left is wearing a nurse's uniform; the woman on the right is dressed in a smart skirt, cardigan and striped top.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

The sun is out in #Warwickshire and the lambs are in the fields, so today we thought we’d bring you this lovely smiley sheep, painted by a Crackley Hall pupil in Spring 2017. (Also is it just us, or does he bear a slight resemblance to a certain @themerl.bsky.social celebrity...?) #SchoolArchive

A child's painting of a sheep with a big smile, standing in a field and enjoying the sun.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Princethorpe College sixth formers and staff boldly setting forth on a Biology field trip, 1971. The students enjoyed a week of ecological studies, and apparently all survived the teachers’ ‘gastronomic experiments’ in their self-catering accommodation! #EYAEarth #SchoolArchive #ExploreYourArchive

Black and white photograph of sixth form students and staff standing in and around a school minibus. Some of the students are holding field studies equipment.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

St Joseph's Convent School pupils and teacher enjoying a trip to Birmingham, c. 1955. Our records indicate that they may have been visiting the Cadbury factory at Bourneville, which would probably explain the big smiles! #SchoolArchive

Black and white photograph of female pupils in school uniform, standing in rows and smiling at the camera, with a nun standing to the right hand side. A grassy bank with trees and a contemporary building are in the background.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Easter holidays have started here at Princethorpe College, so our Lent term display items have gone safely back to the strongroom. The display cases won't be empty for long, though - planning is already well underway for next term! #SchoolArchive #ExploreYourArchive

A sign printed in black on a white piece of paper, on a green felt background. The sign reads 'New archives display coming soon!'

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Sports Day at St Bede's College, early 1960s - some very determined little faces in the sack race!

A black and white photograph of four young boys competing in a sack race, watched by several slightly older boys sitting on chairs and on the grass.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

From one quad to another! Had a wonderful few days at @lincoln.ox.ac.uk learning more about early printed books and how best to care for this very special part of our collections 📚 A big thank you to all involved in running the course - I'm looking forward to putting my new knowledge into practice!

A fifteenth-century stone building with climbing plants around the windows and doorways, and a lawn in the foreground.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

A list of books purchased for St Mary's Priory school library by the Princethorpe Association alumnae group, 1938. Some exciting adventure-based titles in there! #SchoolArchive #SchoolLibraries #LoveLibraries

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

This year’s #WomensHistoryMonth theme is ‘Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations’ - and what better example than the nuns of St Mary’s Priory here at Princethorpe! 📷 St Mary’s Priory schoolgirls with Mère Angels on her Golden Jubilee of profession, 1960. #SchoolArchive

A black and white photograph showing a nun wearing a crown of flowers, with a group of girls in school uniform.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Had a great time giving a talk to Princethorpe College students for #SchoolArchivesDay yesterday (and yes, that is an ‘archivist’ T-shirt I’m wearing!) Our #SchoolArchivesDay display is also up until the end of term for students, staff and visitors to find out more about our wonderful collections.

Archivist giving a presentation to school students, with a School Archives Day PowerPoint slide displayed on a screen.

An exhibition of archive material including photographs, booklets and artefacts in a display case.

An exhibition of archive material including photographs, booklets and press cuttings in a display case.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

One of the wonderful postcards of St Mary's Priory from our collections, ready for tomorrow’s #SchoolArchivesDay talk – we’ll be asking Princethorpe College students if they can identify which of their classrooms this is! #SchoolArchives #heritage

A black and white photograph of a dormitory at St Mary's Priory boarding school, showing dormitory cubicles with white curtains pulled back, and archways leading to a window and statue of the Virgin Mary at the far end of the room.

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

We're looking forward to taking part in the UK’s very first #SchoolArchivesDay next Wednesday! We'll be holding a lunchtime talk for Princethorpe students, where we’ll explore some of the weird and wonderful events in the College's history (and possibly a ghost story or two!) #ExploreYourArchive

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Princethorpe Foundation Archive @pfdnarchive.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

We’re excited to be joining the Bluesky community! Based at beautiful Princethorpe College in #Warwickshire, we look after the #archives and #heritage of Princethorpe College, Crackley Hall, Crescent School and their predecessor schools. Discover our collections at archives.princethorpe.co.uk

Princethorpe College Quad in the sunshine, showing nineteenth-century College buildings including the Chapel, with the Quad gardens in the foreground.

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