The Aylsham Lancaster manor court roll, 1509-46 (NRS 13434), is one of a long series of records of the court of this manor, which extend from 1446 to 1846. The roll is the only record of the court which was unavailable through poor condition, thus denying researchers access to information about Aylsham during the whole of Henry VIII’s reign. Conservation enabled the roll to be digitised, making it widely accessible.
Six months into the eighteen-month project, nearly 250 people have visited the conservation studio at the Norfolk Record Office to experience the on-going conservation work of the roll, kindly supported by NMCT. After carefully dismantling and numbering the roll, a comprehensive conservation report form was formulated to give a visual and technical assessment of each of the 131 rotulets.
Dismantling of the roll has revealed many interesting historical aspects. Evidence of pre-existing and past gatherings, including the finding of a piece of hand-forged nail embedded in the parchment, will give local historians valuable information as to the previous history of the roll. This has also questioned the original format of the roll, which may have consisted of a series of smaller gatherings (rotulets).
Work has begun on the flattening of each of the rotulets in preparation for repairs. This process requires extreme care due to the severe dehydration of the parchment in many areas. The next phase of the project will be to implement repairs to each of the rotulets in preparation for future digitization.
The project attracted interest from Professor Matthew Collins, BioArCh at the University of York, resulting in a unique opportunity to take part in some cutting-edge science for species mapping of the parchment of individual rotulets.
