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Cathedral Libraries and Archives Association Newsletter Summer 2015

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CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

There are frequent references to Magna Carta in this edition of the newsletter, not surprisingly. Cathedrallibraries and archives are making a very substantial contribution to the national observance of this importantanniversary. Shortly before the General Election I had the pleasure of showing the then Secretary of State forCulture, Media and Sport, Mr Sajid Javid, the exhibition we have opened in Worcester Cathedral tracing theWorcester connections to the story of Magna Carta and King John. He acknowledged the contribution madeby cathedrals to the life of the nation, not only by way of the architectural heritage but also through theireducational and cultural activities, in which libraries, archives and other collections play a very important role.This has been an important factor in opening the door to direct government funding for cathedrals, andplaces cathedral collections at the forefront of the continuing case for such funding.

Triennial ConferenceI am very glad to say that the Triennial CLAA Conference will be hosted at Worcester Cathedral from theafternoon of Wednesday 29th September to the morning of Saturday 1st October 2016. This is later in theyear than our conferences have usually been, but is made necessary by a major King John conference whichwe are holding earlier in the year. My colleagues and I look forward to welcoming delegates from acrossBritain and Ireland, and sharing with you the riches of the Worcester Cathedral Library and Archive. Thereare other places of interest in and near Worcester as well: the ‘Hive’, Worcester’s new joint city and universitylibrary, incorporating the record office, and the magnificent Hurd Library at Hartlebury Castle. Please makea note of the date now.

Peter Atkinson, Dean of Worcester

CATHEDRAL LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES ASSOCIATION

NEWSLETTER, SUMMER 2015

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

Magna Carta and CathedralsThe Magna Carta anniversary in June is of greatsignificance for cathedrals and their collections.Thus, this newsletter is inevitably something of a‘Magna Carta Special Issue’!

Three of the four surviving copies of the 1215Magna Carta have been identified as coming fromcathedrals: Salisbury, Lincoln and Canterbury. The1215 Magna Carta is now thought to have beendistributed to bishops, rather than to the King’ssheriffs, for publication through each diocese andfor safe-keeping. Cathedrals were strongholds of

record-keeping, with muniments kept securelyalongside manuscript books and other preciouscollections. Other cathedrals hold later issues ofMagna Carta and documents relating to the MagnaCarta story, including Durham, Hereford, Worcesterand Christ Church Cathedral Dublin. The majorexhibition at the British Library, ‘Magna Carta: law,liberty, legacy’, includes loans from a number ofcathedral collections. The cathedral cities of StAlbans, Bury St Edmunds and Canterbury areamongst the five designated Magna Carta Towns ofEngland as is the City of London, because of theirlinks with the Magna Carta story.

Magna Carta is a key document for the history ofthe Church: one of the three clauses which remainon the statute books today states that the ‘Englishchurch is to be free’. This adds yet another reasonfor its anniversary to be commemorated bycathedrals. That the anniversary falls in the summermonths is particularly fortunate, as the goodweather and long days provide opportunities for a

wide range of commemorative events. This June wecan highlight the important role cathedrals haveplayed in the history of our country and drawattention to our rich written collections. We canalso bring medieval history to life with some mid-summer joy.

Cressida Williams


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NEWS FROM MEMBERS

Canterbury CathedralAt the end of last year, the Archives and Librarycontinued to mark the anniversary of the outbreakof World War I. On 8th December, the Archivesproduced a display to commemorate HMS Kent andthe Battle of the Falklands. This was viewed bydescendants of those who served on the ship, whowere very moved to see the documents andmemorabilia on show. Items exhibited included thecollection of the ship’s captain, Captain Allen, whichis now on deposit with the Cathedral.

At the beginning of the year, the discovery of the‘Canterbury Magna Carta’ was announced. One ofthe two copies of the 1215 Magna Carta held at theBritish Library was identified by Prof DavidCarpenter as the copy formerly held at CanterburyCathedral. This document was removed from theCathedral’s archive in about 1630 by Sir EdwardDering and entered the collection of Sir RobertCotton. Badly burnt in the 18th century, it is one ofthe last exhibits in the British Library exhibition. Thevisitor is struck by the fact that such a visuallyunimpressive item can have had such anextraordinary legacy. This discovery added toCanterbury’s links with the Magna Carta story.Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, was acentral figure in the negotiations leading to theagreement of 1215.

Eight items from the Cathedral’s collections havebeen lent to the British Library’s exhibition. Theseinclude items from the tomb of Archbishop HubertWalter (d1205), our medieval seal press and a lettersent to Langton by papal commissioners relating to

the excommunication of rebellious barons. We willbe lending further items to Canterbury’s museum,at the Beaney, for its ‘Canterbury in the Age ofMagna Carta’ exhibition.

The Cathedral has been working with local partnerson a programme of commemorate events. Theseinclude a service with a parade, a family trail and a6th form conference. Details are available on ourwebsite.

The Archives and Library introduced a self-servicephotography pilot in our reading room in April, inresponse to requests from researchers. We willmonitor comments from users and staff on theservice.

Dr Sarah Turner joined the Canterbury Journeyproject team as Collections Manager at thebeginning of June. Our Head of Book and PaperConservation, Ariane Langreder, secured ICONaccreditation at the beginning of the year. To ourknowledge, Ariane is the only paper conservatoremployed by a cathedral in the UK and Ireland. Weintend to expand our paper conservation serviceand to take in more external work. If othercathedrals are interested in this service, please doget in touch.

Cressida Williams, Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library


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Canterbury’s Conservator Ariane Langrederinstalling Hubert Walter’s mitre at the British Library.

Dublin, Christ Church CathedralThose members of the CLAA whom we had thepleasure of welcoming to Christ Church in 2013may recall that among our treasures is the LiberNiger, a 14th-century collection of documentsbrought to the Cathedral by Prior Henry la Warr, anAugustinian canon from Bristol who became Prior in1300. The Liber Niger assumes particularimportance in 2015, for it contains medieval copiesof a text of Magna Carta. No original copy of thecharter is to be found in Ireland, but that is not tosay that Magna Carta holds no interest for us.Indeed, because the Great Charter was intended toprotect from royal tyranny not only the barons butalso the Church, among those present atRunneymede was the Archbishop of Dublin.

John was King of England and Lord of Ireland, andso his rule extended to this country, at least intheory. Thus, the charter was of significance for theIrish feudal lords of the time. There was a similarIrish charter promulgated in 1216, Magna CartaHiberniae, and it came as a surprise to many of usto learn that elements of that charter, which derivesfrom that of 1215, survive among the laws that atpresent constitute the statute book of this Republic!

So Magna Carta has an Irish dimension, and theCathedral is co-operating with the Irish LegalHistory Society (a body that embraces members ofthe legal profession and the judiciary in both theRepublic and Northern Ireland) and with theChurch of Ireland Historical Society in arrangingevents to mark the 800th anniversary of bothcharters.

We are opening in June a permanent exhibition inthe Treasury which will endeavour to explain theimportance of Magna Carta for Ireland today aswell as yesterday, and have little doubt that this willbe of interest not only to local visitors but also tothose from overseas, not least those from GreatBritain and the United States. We are also arrangingan autumn series of popular lunchtime lectures onthe same subject. The Irish Legal History Societyproposes to mount a conference on Magna Carta atChrist Church in November 2016 to mark 800 yearsof Magna Carta Hiberniae.

As many will be aware, the MC800 Committee,chaired by Sir Robert Worcester, is supporting thehuge number of celebrations that are taking placein Britain, and because of the events that we areplanning at Christ Church we were invited to astakeholders meeting at the Temple in March, whenI had an opportunity to tell people about the Irishdimension, and I discovered how many cathedralsare involved.

One final word about the Christ Church, Dublin,connection: King John died very shortly after theissuing of Magna Carta and the aftermath of itspromulgation was largely in the reign of hissuccessor, Henry III. But Henry was a minor, soregents ruled on his behalf. And one of the regents,most conspicuous where the implementation ofMagna Carta was concerned, was William Marshal,son-in-law of Richard de Clare (Strongbow), who isburied at Christ Church and whose monument ourguests may remember seeing in the nave of theCathedral.

Dr Kenneth Milne, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Portion of the text of Magna Carta as it appears inthe Liber Niger of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.

Durham Cathedral The Magna Carta story would arguably havenothing like the resonance it has today without thedocument held uniquely by Durham Cathedral: thefirst reissue of Magna Carta of 12th November 1216at Bristol. The circumstances of this were verydifferent to those of Runnymede in the previousyear. King John had just died and been buried inWorcester. His nine-year old son had just beencrowned as Henry III in Gloucester Abbey. Hisprincipal supporters, William Marshal Earl ofPembroke and the papal legate Guala, were in amajor fight with the French Prince Louis and hissupporters who controlled much of the south andeast of the country. Support for the royal party

needed rallying. Magna Carta, far from beingimposed on the king, was now reissued in a bid torally support to the king. As well as having a verydifferent purpose, it was also a very differentdocument, with the number of clauses considerablyreduced. This included the dropping of theproscriptive council of 25 barons as Marshal andGuala had no desire to have their authorityimpugned.

This reissue was the start of a series of reissuesduring the rest of the century which helped toestablish Magna Carta as the seminal document it istoday. The next reissue, in 1217, saw clausesrelating to forest law extracted and much amplifiedin a separate Forest Charter. Durham Cathedralholds copies of three of the Magna Carta reissues(1216, 1225 and 1300) and three of the ForestCharters (1217, 1225 and 1300). From June toAugust in 2015, the 1216 Magna Carta and the1217 Forest Charter will be the centrepieces of anexhibition put on by Durham University Library inits Palace Green Library, adjacent to the Cathedralat the heart of Durham’s UNESCO World HeritageSite.

The ‘Magna Carta and the Changing Face ofRevolt’ exhibition proceeds from these documentsas the outcome of an act of rebellion, in which thebarons were acting no longer as loyal subjects but,in their political engagement, as rebels and citizens.It will look at the subsequent long history of thecontested identity of the citizen: who has the rightto speak and act against authority, and are therelimits on what citizens can say and do? The charterswill be displayed alongside further documents fromthe Cathedral’s archive, items from the university’scollections and loans from other regional andnational collections. The university and Cathedralwill also run an engaging programme of relatedactivities alongside the exhibition, from publiclectures and family activities, to hands-onworkshops to re-enactment events.

Dr Michael Stansfield, Durham University Library


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Durham’s 1216 Magna Carta. Reproduced by kind permission of the Chapter of Durham Cathedral.

Hereford CathedralFive books from Hereford Cathedral’s ChainedLibrary are on display in the National Library ofWales’s exhibition ‘Publisher and Plunderer? SirJohn Prise and the First Welsh Books’ until 27th June2015.

Sir John Prise, administrator, antiquarian andhenchman of Thomas Cromwell, played a directrole in the dissolution of the monasteries and drewup documents relating to Henry VIII’s divorces ofAnne Boleyn and Anne of Cleves. He was also abibliophile and lover of the Welsh language whopreserved the earliest surviving Welsh manuscript,the Black Book of Carmarthen, in his own libraryand was responsible for the publication of the firstbook to be printed in Welsh, a collection of basictexts for religious observance, Yny lhyvyr hwnn. Healso wrote a book defending the view of earlyBritish history put forward in the 12th century byGeoffrey of Monmouth, which passed on ancientlegends about Merlin and King Arthur and tracedthe origins of Britain back to Brut, said to be thegreat-grandson of the Trojan hero Aeneas. JohnPrise died at his Hereford home, the formerBenedictine priory of St Guthlac, in 1555, and leftaround 60 books to Hereford Cathedral Library.

Four medieval manuscript books—John’s plunderfrom the monasteries he dissolved, includingGloucester Abbey and Cirencester Abbey—and oneearly printed book from his bequest, usually to befound within the Cathedral’s Chained Library, areon display in the Hengwrt Gallery until 27th June. Isit too far-fetched to think that one day ThomasCromwell may have been visiting John Prise andpicked up one of these books in his library?

Rosemary Firmin, Librarian

Hereford Cathedral Library and Archives holds twoMagna Carta related documents: one a 1217revised Magna Carta issued by Henry III through hisregents which, when reissued under his Great Sealin 1225, became the definitive, and subsequentlyenrolled, text of Magna Carta, the other a writ of

King John issued from Runnymede on 20th June1215 to the Sheriff of Gloucester and Hereford. It isthe sole surviving example of the letter sent by theking informing his officials of the peace made withthe barons and instructing them to ensure the termsof the charter be publicly known and kept. They arerequired to swear an oath to the Council of 25 andalso to set up a jury to enquire into the evil customsof all royal officials. The sheriff who received thiswas Engelard de Cigogné. He would find that hewas personally named in Magna Carta along withother members of the Atheé family, all of whomwere to be immediately stripped of office for beingparticularly reviled agents of King John.

Hereford is mounting a number of exhibitions andevents throughout 2015. Magna Carta is on displayin an exhibition with documents, books andartefacts from the Cathedral and county museumcollections entitled ‘Magna Carta: Icon of Justice,Pledge of Freedom’, which looks at the story of the1217 issue, the law of the time and Magna Carta’sinfluence on the law today. The writ of King John isincluded in the British Library’s exhibition ‘MagnaCarta: law, liberty, legacy’ which runs until1st September. The writ will then be on display inHereford. Additionally throughout the main body ofthe Cathedral, banners, pop-up displays and ‘handson’ interactives tell the story of Magna Carta, itslegacy, the part Hereford and the people of theMarches played in its making and life in the 13th

century. For detailed information go tohttp://www.herefordcathedral.org/

Rosalind Caird, Archivist


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Magna Carta banner in Hereford Cathedral

Lambeth Palace Library/Church of EnglandRecords CentreThe beginning of July marks the completion of a16-month project to catalogue the archives of theChurch of England Board for Social Responsibilityand Board for Mission and Unity and predecessors.Made possible thanks to a generous grant from theAndrew Mellon Foundation via the NationalCataloguing Grants Programme, the completedcatalogues will provide online public access to a richresource, offering insight into the thinking of theChurch of England on a plethora of subjects duringa period when the social fabric of nation and theworld as a whole changed irredeemably.

The Board for Social Responsibility (BSR) wasformed in 1958 as an Advisory Committee to theChurch Assembly. An amalgamation of two earliercentral Church bodies, it aimed ‘to promote and co-ordinate the thought and action of the Church inmatters affecting family, social and industrial life’.Such a remit resulted in the Board becoming acentral ‘think-tank’ within the Church of Englandand the archive it created provides an in-depth

record of the Church’s role in the religious, politicaland social history of England and beyond. Thedecriminalisation of homosexual acts, threat ofnuclear war, political unrest in Northern Ireland andSouth Africa, growth in multinational companies,and the demise of England’s industrial heartlandsand resultant urban decay and deprivation are justa taster of the issues BSR investigated at length.

These investigations were generally carried out bymeans of a working party comprised of individualsof standing in the particular field under scrutiny.Drawn together regardless of faith, the partywould, after much discussion and theorising, settheir findings before General Synod and/or publishReports. Further tasks falling to BSR included:advising clergy and laity at parish level on mattersof social responsibility; accepting requests toprovide evidence to central Government, RoyalCommissions, departmental and SelectCommittees; writing reports on issues and briefs forbishops involved with debates in the House ofLords.

The history of the Board for Mission and Unity(BMU) is traceable back to 1884 and the formationof the Board of Missions of the Province ofCanterbury. A subsequent survey carried out toascertain ‘the spiritual wants’ of countries was theChurch’s first tangible step in co-ordinating thepreviously piecemeal work of missionary societies.The results of the survey, it was hoped, would‘direct attention to the openings providentiallyplaced before the Church’.

Over time the work developed and expanded as thenature of mission transformed both at home andoverseas. This evolution is perhaps best illustratedby the name changes the ‘Board’ underwent in theensuing years. United Board of Missions,Missionary Council, Overseas Council, ChurchAssembly Council for Ecumenical Co-Operationand Missionary and Ecumenical Council of ChurchAssembly all preceded the formation of the BMU in1972.

The BMU operated as the principal channel ofcommunication between General Synod and theBritish Council of Churches, World Council ofChurches, and the Council of European Churches,and devoted considerable time to buildingrelationships with the dioceses and provinces of the


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Anglican Communion. It also remained at theforefront of the reappraisal of how the Church ofEngland engaged with world mission whenpublishing a Mission Audit in 1981. The unityaspect of the Board’s mandate manifested throughconstituted committees of the Board, such as theCommittee of Roman Catholic Relations who weretasked to ‘guide and develop’ contact with theRoman Catholics and the Faith and Order AdvisoryGroup, which advised on theological andecumenical matters, particularly on plans for churchunion overseas.

The BMU archive dates back to the initial survey inthe late 19th century and totals around 600 boxes ofmaterial. The BSR archive, which dates from itsinauguration in 1958, is of similar size. Taken as awhole the archives will prove an invaluable resourceto a broad spectrum of researchers affording, as itdoes, a multi-faceted, non-politically biasedwindow into the changes experienced by societysince the middle of the 20th century, both at homeand aboard.

The catalogues are searchable on the jointcatalogue of the Church of England Record Centreand Lambeth Palace Library, available athttp://archives.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk/CalmView/

Simon Sheppard, Assistant Archivist (Projects)

Lincoln CathedralLincoln Cathedral’s Magna Carta is one of only fourremaining original exemplars sealed by theauthority of King John in 1215. Hidden in theCathedral Archives for many years before comingto light, it spent the years of World War II inAmerica for safe keeping. Churchill is said to haveintended the Lincoln Magna Carta as a gift to theAmerican people after the war. Happily for Lincoln,this plan never came to fruition and Magna Cartawas returned to its rightful home. The first of April2015 saw the opening of the new Magna Cartavault in Lincoln Castle where Magna Carta is ondisplay alongside the Cathedral’s 1217 Charter ofthe Forest.

Many lectures and events are taking place in theCathedral this year to celebrate this anniversary.The Library is taking part by having two specialexhibitions. During April, May and June we have

‘Magna Carta: 1215 and beyond’, which includes aselection of manuscripts and early printed bookswhich illustrate the way in which Magna Cartainfluenced thoughts on Common Law in, forexample, The Reports of the Tudor lawyer SirEdward Coke, and in Sir William Blackstone’s 18th-century Commentaries on the Laws of England. Asa symbol of civil rights, the charter inspired theAmerican colonists. Echoes of it appear in theirAbstract of the Lawes of New England of 1641which is also on display. Amongst the manuscriptswill be Ralph Niger’s late 12th-century Commentaryon the First and Second Book of Kings. Niger, acanon at Lincoln, had strong opinions on kingship,stemming from his outrage at the murder ofArchbishop Thomas Becket, supposedly on theorders of King Henry II. Niger’s thoughts on the OldTestament Book of Kings reflect on what a kingshould be. His ideas influenced Stephen Langton,who as a boy from Langton by Wragby inLincolnshire, is believed to have studied at thenearby Schools of Lincoln, centred on LincolnCathedral. As Archbishop of Canterbury, Langtonadvised on the wording of Magna Carta.

Throughout July, August and September the Libraryis one of the venues taking part in ‘Lincolnshire’sGreat Exhibition’. The Usher Gallery, The Collectionand the Library will be displaying a selection ofLincolnshire’s ‘treasures’. Of particular interest tome and the team of library volunteers is the factthat after almost 350 years we will finally be able todisplay the New Testament volume of the 12th-century Lincoln Chapter Bible alongside its OldTestament counterpart. The former somehowfound its way to Trinity College Cambridge in themid-17th century and the two volumes are finallybeing re-united for the duration of the GreatExhibition. Lincoln Cathedral’s Chapter Bible hasinternational significance as the earliest Englishillustrated Romanesque Bible. Also on display willbe the writ of William the Conqueror in whichRemigius, the first Norman Bishop of the diocese,was given instructions to move to Lincoln in orderto build a cathedral here. The exhibition will alsoinclude a selection of seals, atlases, manuscripts andcharters which are not normally on display, somebelonging to the Cathedral and some being loanedby, amongst others, the Spalding Gentleman’sSociety and Burghley House at Stamford.

Julie Taylor, Cathedral Librarian


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The Lincoln Chapter Bible

Representative Church Body Library, DublinThe library of St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, hasbeen transferred on long term loan to the Library ofthe National University of Ireland, Maynooth.Negotiations are continuing to secure an agreementto transfer the Bolton Library belonging to CashelCathedral to the Library of the University ofLimerick.

Lincoln’s writ of William the Conqueror

As part of the RCB Library’s project to digitise theChurch of Ireland’s collections of architecturaldrawings of churches, work has begun to catalogueand digitise the architectural drawings of ChristChurch Cathedral. This work will be undertaken, ona contract basis, by the architectural historian, DrMichael O’Neill. The drawings of St Patrick’sCathedral, Dublin, have already been digitised andmay be viewed atwww.archdrawing.ireland.anglican.org

An exhibition of archives and architectural drawingsto mark the 150th anniversary of the restoration ofthe St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, by Sir BenjaminLee Guinness is being prepared. The exhibition willopen in the Irish Architectural Archive in June andwill be accompanied by a lunchtime lecture series.

Raymond Refaussé, Librarian and Archivist

Salisbury CathedralSalisbury Cathedral is fortunate to have todaywithin its archive collection one of only foursurviving original Magna Cartas from 1215.Traditionally it was thought that up to 40 copies(one for each county) were originally made anddistributed to the sheriffs in England. However, it isnow considered possible that only 13 copies weremade and distributed to cathedrals for publicationand safe keeping. The fact that of the surviving four1215 documents, three have so far be proved tohave historically been held by cathedrals, supportsthis theory. Salisbury Cathedral Archive alsocontains a 13th-century cartulary in which MagnaCarta has been copied. The existence of this copy inthe cartulary is only now becoming widely knownand further research is needed on the text.


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At Salisbury Magna Carta would originally havebeen received and stored at the Cathedral’s originalsite on the outskirts of modern Salisbury.Construction on the current Cathedral began in1220 being substantially completed by 1258,during this time Magna Carta would have beentransferred to the Cathedral’s Muniment Roomwhere it was kept until the 19th century. It was thenon display in the Cathedral Library and latterly inthe Chapter House where it can be seen today.(Interestingly during the Second World War MagnaCarta was stored for safe keeping at a governmentrepository at Westwood Quarry, near Bradford onAvon. The quarry was later used for growingmushrooms!)

Salisbury has another important connection withMagna Carta through Elias of Dereham. Elias wasthe Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton’s,steward and right hand man. Langton had been thechief negotiator between John and the barons andElias was commissioned with the distribution of tencharters: it is highly likely that Salisbury’s charter isone of these ten. From 1220 onwards Elias becamea canon at Salisbury and is known as themastermind behind the plans and construction ofthe new cathedral.

Another Salisbury connection is that of WilliamLongspee, Earl of Salisbury (?1167-1226). Williamwas John’s half-brother and is mentioned in MagnaCarta’s preamble. Both William and his wife Elawere sheriffs of Wiltshire and laid foundation stonesof the Cathedral. William was also the first personto be buried in Salisbury Cathedral.

Salisbury’s Magna Carta, although it has alwaysbeen held at the Cathedral, has had a varied historyregarding its care and storage. One of the medievalcupboards or ‘presses’ in which documents werestored still survives in the old Muniment Room andMagna Carta would probably have been kept inthis. At some stage in the past, together with othercharters in the archive, it was treated on the reversewith leather dressing. There also seemed to be aparticularly non-typical method of foldingdocuments at the Cathedral and several charters inthe archive bear signs of the seal having been tornrather than cut off, as is also the case with MagnaCarta.

The Salisbury Charter has often been described as‘the best preserved’ or ‘the most beautifully written’

of the surviving four 1215 Magna Cartas. There is aparticular difference between the script onSalisbury’s and the other three. The script onSalisbury’s is known as ‘Book Hand’ and wouldhave traditionally been used when creatingmanuscript books: the script of the other threesurviving Magna Cartas are in a ‘Chancery Hand’, astyle commonly used in the royal chancery for allofficial documents. The ink on Salisbury’s isparticularly clear and strong and appears to be themost stable. The recipe used for this batch of inkmust have had just the right balance of ingredientsto ensure that the colour intensity was strong andthat it did not readily bleed when exposed tomoisture. As a result the text is clearly legible evenafter 800 years, making it easy to read. It is alsovery fortunate that previous restoration treatmentshave not caused as much potential damage,particularly from the over-zealous use of water toflatten the parchment, as they might have done.

For the 800th anniversary the Cathedral was veryfortunate to have received funding from theHeritage Lottery Fund for a new display,interpretation and exhibition of Magna Cartatogether with a wide range of communityengagement activities. The new interactiveexhibition opened on 6th March and for the rest ofthe year events planned include: a lecture series,two themed Magna Carta light installations, a galaconcert, ‘Magna Cantata’ (a newly commissionedmusical work performed by children over fournights, performances of Shakespeare’s ‘King John’by The Globe Theatre within the Cathedral, specialcommemorative services, a ‘Magna Flora’ flowerfestival, a free ‘LiberTea’ Party in the CathedralClose, family and children’s workshops includingspotlight talks on the Library and Archivecollections, and a Barons’ Trail around Salisbury citycentre.

Also as part of the HLF funding we have been able,for the first time, in collaboration with Chris Woodsof the National Conservation Service, to undertakea full condition assessment of Magna Carta whichwill act as a base record for future monitoring andinspections. The new display case aims to improvevisibility to Magna Carta for visitors and for the firsttime we are able to fully monitor the temperature,humidity and light conditions.

Emily Naish, Cathedral Archivist


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Salisbury’s 1215 Magna Carta. Copyright Salisbury Cathedral.

Westminster AbbeyLike many of you, Westminster Abbey has receivedincreased interest this year in its engrossment ofMagna Carta. The Abbey owns one of the 24original engrossments, a fine copy of the reissue ofthe charter by Edward I on 28th March 1300 (WAMLX). It is one of only six surviving engrossments ofthis particular charter. It is in good condition, in afine Chancery-style hand over 63 lines of text.However, it has nothing left of the royal seal thatwould originally have been appended to it, fixedthrough the surviving slit in the bottom fold of theparchment. Part of this fold has at some point beentrimmed away. William Blackstone, writing in 1759in his important work The Great Charter and theCharter of the Forest, recorded of this copy thatuntil recently ‘the word ‘Wilts’ was to be seen at thebottom... which was then unwisely cut off.’

Quite why the copy of the 1300 charter originallysent in to Wiltshire made its way quite early toWestminster is unclear, as the Abbey owned fewestates or foundations in the county. Why, forexample, did it not follow one of the surviving 1215charters to Salisbury? Or the copy of the 1225charter sent to Wiltshire, which was deposited atLacock Abbey for safe custody at some point in the13th century, and, remaining there, descended afterthe Dissolution to the Talbot family of Lacock,before being given to the British Museum by MissMathilda Theresa Talbot in 1945 (now BritishLibrary Add MS 46144)? If serendipity turns up anyreference to why this might have happened, wewould be delighted to hear of it.

The Abbey’s 1300 engrossment of Magna Cartawill form the centrepiece of a display at a freeexhibition at the Supreme Court around the cornerfrom us on Parliament Square from late July untilSeptember this year.

Matthew Payne, Archivist

Worcester CathedralSince last winter all the books and archives havebeen packed and moved out of the Library’s mainroom, whilst the ceiling was repaired. This waspossible thanks to a grant from the government’sFirst World War Centenary Fund. In the end thearchitect recommended that the nature of the repairwork could well cause the books to suffer variousproblems if they were left in situ. Scaffolding and ahoist was constructed up the west face of theCathedral to a library window. This was partly for

the benefit of the workmen, but also provedinvaluable in moving so much heavy material downto ground level.

The process saw each book wrapped in acid freetissue paper and then boxed up. The boxes had toweigh no more than 15kg. The books wereprotected in the boxes by bubble wrap and fillingmaterial. The historic books and archives arecurrently being kept in a specialist storage facility. Inthe end we had about 1500 boxes of material tomove. There were roughly 1.5 kilometres of booksand archives to prepare. The Library Assistant hasworked out that once boxed up it was almost theequivalent in weight of a T34 tank that had to betaken outside. Charters and maps had to beremoved from plan chests and carefully wrappedup, as well as artefacts and oil paintings. TheCathedral Library staff were overwhelmed by thekindness of cathedral volunteers and members ofthe congregation, as well as members of the publicwho heard about the scale of the problem andcame to assist at very short notice. It is hoped thatthe books will be returned to the Cathedral in earlyJune. The Library and Archive should reopen inAugust if all goes to plan.

Whilst the Library and Archive are not available forthe moment the Librarian has been able to developand prepare new tours on King John, and royalvisitors to Worcester. This last project is somethingthat the Cathedral is doing in co-operation with theMuseum of Royal Worcester Porcelain to produce ajoint day out for tourists.

After the success of his first exhibition, the LibraryAssistant Tom Hopkins has started work on his nextone in our temporary office. He has chosen to lookat the Nuremburg Chronicle as part of an exhibitionabout medieval printed books, and the medievalworld view. His placement has been funded by theHeritage Lottery Fund’s Skills for the FutureScheme.

For the British Library’s exhibition on Magna Carta,the Dean and Chapter lent some relics of King John.It is expected that these will be returned inSeptember this year. We were ably assisted byconservators who advised on condition reports,repaired textiles, and arranged for the making ofboxes for the items.

David Morrison, Librarian


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York MinsterThe team spent much of the second half of 2014developing a five-year Forward Plan as part of ourArts Council England (ACE) Accreditation Return.The plan was adopted by Chapter in November andsince then has directed all work, enabling a morecohesive way of working. We divided the plan intofour sections: Collections Development, CollectionsInformation, Collections Access and CollectionsCare & Conservation.

Collections Development: Since January the teamhas embarked on a Collection Review and Profilingproject to understand the quantity, quality andusage of our collection. We have been using varioustested methodologies to help us understand betterall elements of our collection to ensure it remainscoherent, relevant and sustainable for our users andpotential users. On 27th February we submitted ourAccreditation Return and hope to hear whether wehave maintained our Full Accreditation status by31st August. We have also been reviewing ourLibrary Partnership Agreement with the Universityof York. The Partnership Agreement provides theChapter with our library staff and catalogue systemto deliver our first class library service. Theagreement is in place until 2020 and this istherefore a mid-term review to ensure it remains fitfor purpose. Work has included a review of thedocument, a stakeholder engagement survey and afull review of the library service.

Collections Information: Work has begun on areview of Chapter’s Data Protection System whichwill result in a new policy being submitted foradoption in June. Work has also continued on ourinventory to add categories that were initially notincluded such as monuments and windows. Thiswork is being overseen by staff but mostly carriedout by a team of volunteers. The inventory is alsobeing transferred to CALM software which ismaking identification of material much easier.

Collections Access: The team delivered four adultlearning sessions under the banner ‘CollectionsUnlocked’. The sessions looked to use the collectionas a springboard for discussion around varioustopics and included a session looking at what wecan learn about religious extremism throughexamination of the English Reformation, and asession entitled ‘Praying for Victory? The legacy ofWar’, which explored how prayer is used in times ofwar. We have also begun a close relationship withthe army regiments based in York to help deliversome of their training around their values andstandards. This uses objects from the story ofJonathan Martin who burnt down the Minster in1829, probably as a result of PTSD (Post TraumaticStress Disorder). The sessions have focussed on theimportance of Codes of Ethics and theconsequences of living outside of society’s codes. Inaddition we welcomed 1,530 people to the OldPalace in the first quarter of 2015, retrieving 555objects for use by users or staff and lending 226items from the Library. In March we receivedrevalidation of the Customer Service ExcellenceAward for which we are a full partner with theUniversity of York.

Collections Care & Conservation: Our NADFASteam has been working on our folio collectionfocusing on creating book shoes. We have alsobegun a storage audit to assess the capacity,environment, fittings suitability and accessibility ofall our stores to help us determine what is beststored, where.

We have also enjoyed some personal successes withLibrary Assistant Maria Nagle being awarded acustomer service award in March.

Sarah Griffin, Minster Librarian


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COMMITTEE CONTACTS

Chairman: The Very Rev Peter Atkinson, Dean of Worcester

Vice-ChairmanCanon Ann Barwood, Lay Canon and Canon Librarian of Exeter Cathedral

Treasurer: Dr Michael Stansfield, Durham University Library.Email [email protected]

Honorary SecretaryMs Judith Curthoys, The Archives, Christ Church Oxford. Email [email protected]

Assistant SecretaryMrs Katie Flanagan, Brunel University.Email [email protected]

Committee Members:Dr Claire Breay, British Library. Email [email protected]

Ms Vicky Harrison, York Minster. Email [email protected]

Dr Clare Rider, St George’s Chapel Windsor Castle.Email [email protected]

Dr Gudrun Warren, Norwich CathedralEmail [email protected]

Mrs Cressida Williams, Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library.Email [email protected]

We aim to produce two issues of this letter each year, in summer and winter. Any contributions shouldbe sent to the Editor, Mrs Cressida Williams, either by email to [email protected] or by post to her at Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library, The Precincts,Canterbury CT1 2EH, to reach her by 31st October for the winter issue, or 30th April for the summerissue. She would also welcome comments or suggestions for content.

THE CATHEDRAL LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES ASSOCIATION

The aims of the Cathedral Libraries and ArchivesAssociation are:

To advance education by the promotion,preservation and protection of cathedral librariesand archives in the United Kingdom and Ireland The provision of appropriate access thereto

For our webpages, see http://cathedrallibrariesan-darchives.wordpress.com/

Enquiries about membership should be directed tothe Honorary Secretary or Treasurer.

cathedral libraries and archives …...cathedral libraries and archives association newsletter...

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