Archives départementales de la Creuse

Like all French departmental archives, the Archives de la Creuse were created during the Revolution when the papers of the Ancien Régime administrations, ecclesiastical establishments and emigrant families were brought together in Guéret, the departmental capital. Since then, their collection has been constantly enriched by the regulatory deposits of public archives (deposits from prefectures and sub-prefectures, external State services, General Council services, public establishments, centenary minutes of notary offices, centenary communal archive deposits), but also by donations or deposits of private archives. In the 19th century, the Archives shared the premises of the Creuse prefecture, but this situation proved difficult due to the growth of the archives. Therefore, in 1892, the Archives were moved to the Hôtel des Monneyroux, the current headquarters of the Conseil Général. However, this historic building was not well suited to the growing number of 20th century archives, so in 1959 the Archives were moved to a building in the rue de l'ancienne mairie, which combined an 18th century hotel with purpose-built archive storage facilities. The latter were also slowly saturated by the influx of archives, and so the question of moving arose thirty years later. In 1988, the Conseil Général de la Creuse bought the former offices and warehouses of the Coopérateurs de la Creuse to install the Archives Départementales.  

Access to archives is a citizen's right, guaranteed by law. Visiting the departmental archives is therefore free and open without restriction. Nevertheless, work in the reading room is governed by rules designed to maintain the best possible research conditions for all. Not all archive documents can be consulted. The French Heritage Code sets time limits for certain categories of archives, mainly because of the protection of privacy.