In April 1993 the Bata Estate and Factory at East Tilbury became designated as a Conservation Area as it was realised what an important place this is.
To complement the Conservation Area a Reminiscence and Resource Centre has been built within the local library to house the memories of the people who have been a part of this community, as well as photographs and artifacts donated by them.
The Bata Reminiscence and Resource Centre (now known as the Bata Heritage Centre) was opened in April 2002 by Mrs Sheila Plampton who was the first baby born on the Bata Estate that we were able to trace.
Since it’s opening the Bata Heritage Centre has gone from strength to strength and the collection has grown rapidly.
In October 2007, with the help of a grant from the East of England Development Agency, the Centre and Library have been upgraded to supply new display cases, storage and space for the Centre and new shelving and furniture for the library. The improved facilities will allow for better use of the Resources available for the local community and visitors to this important historical site.
On Friday 2nd November 2007 the library and Heritage Centre played host to many local dignitaries and the ribbon declaring the building open was cut by Evelyn Haxell, a long term resident of the Bata Estate and oldest of the volunteers who run the Centre.
Some views of the Centre after the 2007 upgrade.
The Centre now has sections about all of the subsidiaries in the UK as well as a small amount about other Bata Communities around the world.
To assist with research, the Centre has recently had a grant from the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation in order to purchase copies of the Bata Record on CD. This is a complete set of the Bata Record.
The picture on the right shows Jean Angus of the Development Corporation handing this over to Fred Price and Joan James of the Bata Heritage Centre.
In 2018, we reprinted our popular book about the Social Side of British Bata written by the late Angela Cook, née Rumsey. Some minor amendments were made to the original largely to reflect the change of our name in August 2015.
Copies of this book are now available at £4 each and can be collected from:
Bata Heritage Centre
East Tilbury Library
Princess Avenue
East Tilbury
Essex
RM18 8ST
If you require us to send a book to you, please email your request to brrcatbatamemories@hotmail.com with your name and address.
Unfortunately, UK postage rates have increased over the last couple of years. As a result, we have had to increase the price to cover the increased postage element. The cost of the book, including postage and packing, is as follows:
Mainland UK: £6.00
Europe: £9.80
United States: £11.70
Australia: £13.00
Please make cheques payable to “Bata Heritage Centre”
We also accept payments direct to our bank. Please email us at brrcatbatamemories@hotmail.com for our bank details. Thank you.
