The Surrey Comet archives will be available to view as part a new history centre in Kingston’s Guildhall.

The centre, replacing the local history room and archives, previously in the old North Kingston Centre, will open to the public on Wednesday, October 28.

The centre, inside what was once Kingston Magistrates’ Court, will keep historic journals, magazines and Surrey Comet editions on microfilms.

Surrey Comet:

The archives include the first ever Comet front from 1854

Kingston Museum has also launched an exhibition called Kingston’s Hidden Histories, telling the stories of working-class Kingston residents from 1890 to 1939. The installation was created by Kingston artist and lecturer Loraine Monk.

She said: “History is often the records of people who had power, who ensured that their histories are recorded and those groups, or individuals, that are perceived as the others are excluded as a result.

“My research asks why the working class are not represented in the collections.”