Parchments

The Malton and Pickering Mercury covered the story, shown here with kind permission.

Two parchments belonging to Broughton Parish Meeting caused some excitement at the North Yorkshire County Council Archives Office when it was realised they dated back to the 18th Century Enclosure Acts.

A press release (PDF,  10k)  stated:

“The documents provide unique evidence for a major change in the local scene, more than two hundred and twenty years ago. The old open field system, whereby local tenants farmed their allotted strips in common, had existed for centuries, but in 1788-89 agreement was reached to divide the old open field into individually owned plots. The process is recorded in these documents, written in a legal hand on large sheets of parchment.”

Chairman John Lund decided that the County Archives was the most suitable place for the future storage of the parchments to ensure their preservation and to make them accessible for everyone.

His visit to the Archives offices is given in more detail with photographs on a separate page.

John Lund also offered to pay for the archivists to provide an interpretation of the parchment entitled awards which is also on a separate page.

Both the Ryedale Mercury and the Malton Gazette and Herald carried stories about the handing over of the parchments.

The Ryedale Mercury has kindly allowed us to include  a scanned copy of their story.

AGW 2011