Cataloguing and preserving the Honour of Clitheroe archive
The humidification cabinet in the conservation workshop
Since 2012, thanks to the financial support of the Friends, and the efforts of our volunteers and the staff of Lancashire Archives, the accessibility of the Honour of Clitheroe collection (DDHCL) and its state of preservation has been, and is being, transformed.
A project to greatly improve the catalogue of what is our largest and most important manorial collection was undertaken in 2012 and, at the same time, the court rolls were repackaged in specially made acid-free boxes. This kicked off other activities which have seen this wonderful resource better preserved and used more and more over the last few years. Two Friends in particular, David and Brenda Hustler, have helped massively. By transcribing the indexes to the court rolls they have been unlocking their contents for researchers around the world, making 40,000 index entries available online, containing in excess of 100,000 names of people and places in East Lancashire.
In addition, over the last two years, thanks to a donation from a Friend with a particular interest in the Accrington court rolls, we have been able to transcribe the index to these, 1660-1804, making another 11, 000 entries available online. Part of this funding was used to purchase a new humidification cabinet for the conservation workshop so that the Conservation Team could work on the rolls - relaxing parchment using humidity helps in the cleaning and flattening process.
Explore the archive catalogue
A project to greatly improve the catalogue of what is our largest and most important manorial collection was undertaken in 2012 and, at the same time, the court rolls were repackaged in specially made acid-free boxes. This kicked off other activities which have seen this wonderful resource better preserved and used more and more over the last few years. Two Friends in particular, David and Brenda Hustler, have helped massively. By transcribing the indexes to the court rolls they have been unlocking their contents for researchers around the world, making 40,000 index entries available online, containing in excess of 100,000 names of people and places in East Lancashire.
In addition, over the last two years, thanks to a donation from a Friend with a particular interest in the Accrington court rolls, we have been able to transcribe the index to these, 1660-1804, making another 11, 000 entries available online. Part of this funding was used to purchase a new humidification cabinet for the conservation workshop so that the Conservation Team could work on the rolls - relaxing parchment using humidity helps in the cleaning and flattening process.
Explore the archive catalogue
One of the earliest court rolls being "relaxed" in the cabinet so it can be cleaned and repackaged
