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 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.

On Friday 2nd November the library and Reminiscence and Resource 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.

It was soon realised that we could not single out the life and times of the people of the Bata Community at East Tilbury as they were so intertwined with other parts of the Company around both this Country and the world that these parts were inseparable.

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.

Since it's opening the Bata Reminiscence and Resource 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.

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 Reminiscence and Resource Centre.