Archive

This project aims to chart the story of the Byre and the people who made, and make, it possible through archive materials. From the very beginning to the present day.

Here, you see the tip of an enormous iceberg, including the beginning of a collection.

In the Summer of 2021, the Byre worked with an Archive Intern, University of St Andrews undergraduate, Beth McHugh, to begin the process of bringing together a vast number of materials, including photographs, programmes, plays and documents from various collections and places with the aim of organising, cataloguing and digitising them to preserve and share them with everyone with an interest in or an attachment to this wonderful, small theatre. Beth was also instrumental in the creation of a film, Byre Back in Time, to mark the 20th anniversary of the opening of the current, award-winning building.

You can read about Beth’s experience and her response to the materials she discovered in Ten Moments for the Byre.

In 2023, to celebrate the theatre’s 90^th anniversary, the Byre commissioned an update to the 2021 film, featuring stories of the opening of the current building and, notably, an interview with former Artistic Director, Maggie Kinloch. It’s hoped that this film will be publicly available soon. The Byre also collaborated with the St Andrews Preservation Trust to produce a short publication, Byre at 90, updating the Trust’s previous publication, Three Ages of The Byre, from 2014.

In 2024, thanks to a summer internship programme, made possible by the University of St Andrews Careers Centre, the Byre was able recruit another Archive Intern; undergraduate, Nishka Dalmia. Nishka carried on the work of her predecessor, digitizing programmes which had been loaned by a local collector, sorting and cataloguing and safely storing materials which had been unearthed in an off-site store.

You can read Nishka’s fascinating, beautiful, personal response to her time at the Byre here.

Crucially, following a series of discussions with Byre staff, Nishka began to unearth the lesser-known stories of some of the women who have been instrumental in the Byre’s proud history, making them visible through a small series of bookmarks which you can see here. Again, this is the start of a process of building a fuller picture of the Byre’s History.

Since the beginning of this ongoing project, the known Byre Archive has been tidied up and catalogued and, with the help of many members of our community, we now have records of over 500 scripts, 50 boxes of glass photographic plates, around 300 CDs and DVDs, many more folders of photographs, old documents, and some lovely old letters.

Our work continues. If you have something you would like to contribute, please contact byreboxoffice@st-andrews.ac.uk

Although the project has been a great success so far, there is still a gap in materials from over the last 40 years. No artifact relevant to the Byre is too new or old, it’s all part of our shared history. If you have anything from photographs, programmes, scripts, recordings to video footage, the Byre would love to see it.

Please don’t give us any original copies or objects. Instead, you can send us photos, scans, descriptions or a note of any stories you have up your sleeve.

Email is the easiest way to get in touch. Contact byreboxoffice@st-andrews.ac.uk.

The Byre scrapbook on Vimeo

Flick through this scrapbook of some of our favourites from the collection so far, alongside some more up to date images of recent pantos, all complied as a treat, especially for Christmas 2021.

Browse a selection of images from the Byre’s archive HERE.

Watch Byre Back In Time, a short documentary, commissioned especially for the Byre, which premiered on the day the Byre reopened to the public after a long closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.