The Friends of Medway Archives (FOMA) logo is based on a 2006 sketch, by the late local historian and FOMA Committee member Bob Ratcliffe (1936 – 2018), of the old Civic Centre’s Clock Tower in Strood.

The Medway Archives at the Civic Centre

The then Rochester upon Medway Studies Centre was created when the local studies collections were relocated from Chatham and Rochester Libraries to the Civic Centre in March 1993. The creation of the new Medway unitary authority in 1998 saw the Rochester upon Medway Studies Centre renamed to the Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre (MALSC). MALSC were based within the Civic Centre until the new Medway Archives Centre on Bryant Road was opened in 2017.

Former Borough Archivist, Stephen Dixon, wrote an article for Issue 31 of The Clock Tower in 2013, as part of the 20 years of MALSC celebrations, detailing the archives’ history. The article can be found here .