Fact-Checking Policy

Every factual article published by WADHURST is checked against source material suited to the claim. Names, dates, figures, addresses, titles, quotations, listings, route details, institutional names and geographic descriptions are all subject to verification before publication. The aim is not merely to avoid embarrassment. It is to ensure that our archive remains useful after first publication.

How we check core facts

Names are checked against primary or high-quality secondary sources. Dates are checked against records, notices, listings, archived material or contemporaneous reporting. Numbers are verified from the original dataset or originating document wherever possible. Quotations are matched to a recording, transcript, publication or direct text capture that preserves context. If a source cannot be checked to that standard, we either re-report the point or leave it out.

For local history pieces we compare several kinds of evidence: newsletters, books, archival notes, maps, listings, contemporary newspapers, parish material, inscriptions, exhibition notes and image captions. A single charming anecdote is not enough. A single orphaned webpage is not enough. We look for convergence.

Multiple-source confirmation

We seek at least two reliable confirmations for contested or consequential claims, and more where the matter is sensitive, potentially defamatory or historically messy. This applies especially to ownership histories, exact dates of events, attributions of quotations, biographical details and claims about buildings or institutional decisions.

Archive pages, removed pages and screenshots

Our archive is a working source, but archived pages are treated with care. We preserve old URLs, note where captures come from and check whether a page represents publication, draft, mirror, scrape or later alteration. Removed pages are cross-checked against references, citations, links from third-party sites and other archived copies where available.

Social media posts and screenshots are checked for origin, date, account identity, edits and the existence of a corresponding primary source. A screenshot alone is rarely sufficient when the underlying statement can be confirmed by a document, post history, council paper, listing or direct communication.

Reader feedback and factual challenges

We welcome factual challenges from readers, institutions, archivists, local historians and directly affected parties. Messages should set out the specific sentence or claim at issue, the proposed correction, and the source or evidence supporting that correction. We review every serious submission and prioritise claims that affect names, dates, figures, quotations, addresses, attributions and reputational issues.

To report a factual error, write to accuracy@wadhurst.info. We keep a dated internal log of substantive factual complaints and the action taken on each one.

How we mark changes

Where a published article changes in a way that affects meaning, we add a dated note to the article. Minor style edits are not logged individually. Factual amendments are. If a story develops materially, we may expand the original article and note the update or publish a follow-up linked from the earlier piece.