The Archives is currently situated at Huron University College. The 50-year partnership with the College has come to an end, and the Archives will move out in August 2026.
In the fall of 2026, Diocesan Archives will open at a new location – St. Paul’s Cathedral in London – and with a new name.
This is the main takeaway from the Archives Relocation Working Group presentation at Synod that announced creation of The Reverend Canon Dr. J. Douglas Leighton Archives of the Diocese of Huron.
Dr. Leighton, who died in 2022, was a well-respected priest and scholar with a passion for things historical, particularly our Church and our diocesan heritage. He was Professor of History at Huron College and also served as Diocesan Canon Historian. Leighton was instrumental in bringing papers, records and significant artifacts to the College and the subsequent creation of the Archives itself.
The Archives is currently situated at Huron University College. The Archives’ move was initiated in 2024 when it was announced that the 50-year partnership with the College had come to an end. The Diocese managed to prolong the moving date until August 2026. In the meantime, the Working Group have been looking for a permanent solution, finally opting for the Cathedral.
The Leighton Archives will occupy three spaces within St. Paul’s. Archives public spaces will take over three adjacent rooms on the second floor that formerly served as offices and storage for the Daily Bread food program. This section of the Archives will feature a small reception area, archivist’s office, a public reading room for in-house visitors, and workroom for processing material, which will also have a smaller annex that will house digitization equipment and serve to quarantine new acquisitions.
Across the hall on the second floor, a room that back in the day was a children’s worship space will become a storage area – a secure room required for archival supplies, for material awaiting cataloguing, and for content from the collection that is being used by researchers and other Archives visitors.
The Vault, containing all of Archives’ catalogued material, will be situated in the space below the Cathedral sanctuary formerly used as choir rehearsal space and score library. The room will be insulated and sealed. It will have all the necessary environmental controls, security and communications systems. All fixtures currently holding archival catalogued collections, flat storage and microfilm cabinets will relocate into the Vault.
There are a couple of important dates for parishes to note. Friday, December 19, is the last day for accepting new deposits from churches until the Archives re-opens in the fall. Parishes should hold on to their material until then and consult the Archives’ Information for Churches page on the diocesan website for details about safe handling and storage of their material until the Archives reopens.
The second significant date is Thursday, April 30 next year when the Huron location closes permanently.
We will do our best to keep up with phone and e-mail enquiries as the move progresses, but there will necessarily be periods during which access to records will be curtailed. We also will make every attempt to keep you informed of progress along the way, so stay tuned.
We look forward to welcoming you to the Reverend Canon Dr. J. Douglas Leighton Archives of the Diocese of Huron next fall. In the meantime, we are happy to answer any questions. Just give us a shout via e-mail at leightonarchives@huron.anglican.ca