THE Journal photograph archive has a new home after Salisbury Museum agreed to digitalise more than 100,000 historic pictures.

The collection documents the city’s history back to 1953 and will now be preserved for future generations.

All of the negatives have been transferred from the Salisbury Newspapers offices on Rollestone Street to storage facilities at the museum.

Now dedicated volunteers will start the process of scanning individual negatives, some of which capture the most iconic moments in Salisbury’s history during the past 60 years.

The museum hopes that when finished it could form part of an interactive display where visitors can easily search for a picture from the archive.

Museum director Adrian Green said: “A project like this, digitalising then making the photos accessible, would be an incredible achievement.

“This will be about Salisbury and all the wonderful things that have happened here.”

The historic paper archive, which dates back to when the Journal was founded in 1729, can still be found at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham.

Publisher of Salisbury Newspapers Bill Browne said: “There are rare moments in time buried in this fantastic collection.

“We are grateful to the museum and its volunteers for taking on this task which I am sure will be the source of many articles, projects, exhibitions and books in the future.”

David Chilton, one of the volunteers helping at the museum, called upon more enthusiasts to help on the project.

“To speed up the process of getting the photos available to the public in the museum we just need people to help,” he said.

“We need volunteers who are comfortable using a computer and methodical.”

The museum is also interested in donations of old photographs which show city landmarks or buildings which no longer exist. For more information email museum@ salisburymuseum.org.uk, any donations must include handing full copyright to the museum.

The Journal is also interested in seeing old photos which tell a forgotten part of city’s history. Bring them to 8-12 Rollestone Street or email newsdesk@salisburyjournal.co.uk.