Venue Source Cards
These cards make individual source objects easier to audit. They record what a source actually establishes, its evidence class, and the boundary that must remain visible when it is used in a venue chronology.
SA 15/1/4/4/1 — Paul Cleary
Popular music: Paul Cleary · 2 November 2004 · 38m 29s
The Essex Archives Online catalogue describes an interview about Cleary's experiences in bands and popular music in Chelmsford. Its scope explicitly includes his first gig attended in 1974 at Chancellor Hall, later Chancellor Hall gigs, XTC at the Odeon, the Army and Navy pub, and live music in other Chelmsford venues.
Can establish: a first-person oral-history account exists and identifies the venues and periods discussed.
Cannot by itself establish: every date, bill or attendance figure mentioned in the interview.
SA 15/1/4/12/1 — Ian Fortnam
Ian Fortnam — Punk in Chelmsford
The catalogue describes Dot Bedenham's interview with Ian Fortnam about Chelmsford popular music, particularly the late-1970s punk movement. The synopsis includes Deejays, The Gents, Anorexia, Nasty Habit, City Tavern and Chancellor Hall, and describes Chelmsford as a centre for punk.
Can establish: a contemporary participant's later recollection of the punk scene and the venues within it.
Cannot by itself establish: a complete Chancellor Hall gig list or exact dates for every recollection.
Use alongside tickets, flyers and contemporary listings rather than converting the synopsis into event records.
Army & Navy — Sean Hudson
Source PDF dated 18 May 2021
The surviving interview describes Hudson's promotion work, the move of a Heavy Metal Kids show to the Army & Navy in 1992, later bookings, the detailed Oasis recollection from 1994, the venue's wider programme and its reported closing in October 2002.
Can establish: what the interviewee remembers and the structure of his account.
Cannot by itself establish: that every remembered booking or figure has independent documentary confirmation.
ERO Chancellor Project — Corn Exchange
Frederic Chancellor plans · D/F 8
The Essex Record Office records Frederic Chancellor as having worked on the Corn Exchange in Chelmsford and states that over 8,500 plans from the Chancellor collection have been processed and are available in the Searchroom. This is architectural/archive context, not a music-event source.
Can establish: the architectural provenance of the building and the existence of surviving Chancellor plans.
Cannot by itself establish: a particular concert, artist or date.
ERO Searchroom / Sound & Video Archive
Current access guidance
ERO states that its catalogue contains descriptions of archive items and that some sound and video material is available online, while other recordings can only be accessed in the Searchroom because of copyright restrictions. It also notes that some recordings have not yet been catalogued or digitised.
Can establish: why an archive lead may be real and useful even when the underlying item is not currently available online.
Cannot establish: the content of an uncatalogued or inaccessible item.
Archive Research Access →
MR-001 — Skin Alley / Hawkwind / Decameron
Civic Theatre, Chelmsford · ticket wording · year not printed
This supplied memorabilia item is preserved as an object with its original wording. It gives the Civic Theatre, a Sunday 21 December date and a 7.30 start, but the year is not printed on the ticket.
Can establish: the wording and details visible on the surviving item.
Cannot by itself establish: the missing year or turn the object into a fully dated event without corroboration.
How these cards feed the archive
Source card
Preserves the identity, evidence class and limits of an individual source.
Venue dossier
Combines source cards into a venue-level argument without erasing contradictions.
Chronology
Uses only the event claims that the surviving evidence can support, keeping broader context separate.
Research queue
Turns unresolved boundaries into concrete next actions such as ticket extraction, catalogue checking or Searchroom consultation.