The Essex Chronicle is on the move, and to mark the occasion, a horse-drawn coach will be the newspaper’s preferred mode of transport.

However, you won’t see members of the newsdesk riding in the coach. Editorial staff aren’t going anywhere, it’s actually copies of the newspapers that are being rehoused.

The complete collection of Chronicle records is being moved to the new Essex Record Office in Chelmsford. The leather-bound volumes stretch back 230 years and contain a historical record of local, national and international events. They are being relocated to ensure they are kept safe for the future.

To make the event special, the Chronicle has arranged for the records to travel in an 1890s mail coach pulled by four Gelderlander horses.

The coach and four will travel through the town centre and a hornblower will sit at the front to broadcast the party’s approach.

When the papers arrive at the new records office, which opened earlier this year, Chronicle editor Stuart Rawlins will hand the volumes over to County Archivist Ken Hall.

Mr Rawlins said: “We decided to use a coach and four to help reflect such an historic move. The Chronicle has recorded the development of Chelmsford and Essex for more than 230 years and has also been part of the shaping of the county.”

County councillor James Gordon, portfolio holder at the records office, said: “We are delighted to be able to provide safe and secure storage for a newspaper which contains such a wealth of information on the history of the county”

The Chronicle was launched on August 10, 1764, by William Strupar from a shop in Chelmsford High Street.

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