Megan Makinson, our Behind The Wall research assistant, brings us up-to-date with her work so far:
After spending the day in Standfast & Barracks onsite archives a few weeks ago, it has become apparent that the unveiling of the site’s history is not going to be the easy task I first envisaged.
On arrival I was directed into a small room which, on first impression, looked to be bursting with untouched documents, yet after closer inspection it became apparent that many of these documents were, in fact, old fabric samples.
Although these were extremely fascinating to flick through, they clearly did not provide insightful information on the site’s history.
Yet tucked in the far corner of the room was a book entitled ‘Three generations in a family textile firm’ by Jocelyn Morton which provided me with key dates and even extracts of James Morton’s diary regarding his time in Lancaster at Morton Sundour.
Since returning home, I have been attempting to piece together old newspaper articles with the dates identified in the hope to compile an in depth timeline.
To aid the development of my timeline, I am in the process of organising a meeting with Peter Donnelly, Curator of the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment Museum, in the hope that he will be able to shed light on the site’s history between 1914 and 1915 when it was used as an internment camp.
