THE new Somerset Heritage Centre near Taunton will open its doors to the public for the first time on Monday.
The County Gazette has reported how work on the £8million centre, in Brunel Way, Norton Fitzwarren, began early last year.
The centre houses more than 10million historic documents and books and three million museum objects.
It houses all the material formerly held at the Somerset Record Office, as well as the museum reserve collections, the Somerset Studies Library and the Historic Environment Record.
The centre also provides information on over 30,000 historic sites in Somerset.
And its strong rooms provide a temperature and humidity-controlled environment for Somerset's collections of historical records, the earliest of which dates from the 8th century.
Somerset county councillor Christine Lawrence said: “This is a wonderful new building, housing the sources of Somerset's history under one roof.
“It will allow the public to learn about Somerset's history and heritage as never before.”
The centre will be open on Mondays from 1pm to 5pm, from Tuesday to Friday between 9am and 5pm, and on alternate Saturdays between 9am and 4pm.
Visitors are advised to make an appointment by contacting the centre on 01823-278805.
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