The cover of the 1538 Records
When Commander Stagg had access to this book in the 1930s, he described it as being in very good condition.
|
March 2003
Conservator, Antoinette Curtis, at the NRO, described what might be done with a document as badly damaged as this after its ten years burial in the churchyard.
|
Antoinette described the cover as a full rough calf leather binding; it was sewn on to five cords and there is still evidence where the cords were. She said the text block was parchment, and apart from suffering dirt, damp and considerable mould damage, several of the folios and sections had become welded together, as a result of the gelatine coming out of the parchment and congealing it together in one lump.
The inks used by the ancient scribes are very stable, made from a mixture of iron sulphate boiled up with oak galls. But though parchment is a beautiful writing surface, it doesn't absorb (as paper does) and the ink tends to sit on the surface, which makes the
The Buried Remains of cleaning process extra difficult for fear of removing any of the writing.
Antoinette was unsure if they could get those sections apart; the first five were very bad but the last four were better. She said that if the parish or someone were to come up with several hundred pounds, * there was real hope with the equipment improving all the time, that quite a lot could be separated, rendered flexible, cleaned, and flattened. She pointed out that the Record Office didn't repair things as a museum does, to put them in a glass case, but to enable them to be used as they were originally intended to have their pages turned.
Although this document would not stand up to being rebound, after all it has suffered, a very good digital copy could be printed out and bound in the usual way, and made available.
* The arrangement with the Diocese is that the parish meets the cost of putting right any damage caused while a document is in the church's keeping.
March 2002, in the Conservation room in the NORFOLK RECORD OFFICE when it
was still at Gildengate House, Anglia Square, Norwich.
Susan Maddock, Principal Archivist (left), and Jessica Durkota on loan from the USA, view the pulped remains of Salthouse Parish Register, 1538-1812. The cover and the text section lie separate on the table, briefly unwrapped to be photographed. |
______________________________________________
November 2005 - Work begins on the early Salthouse Register
______________________________________________
From: "Watts, Jenny - NRO"
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 3:46 PM
Subject: First Salthouse register
Dear Val,
Just to let you know that Antoinette has started work on the register. The first two bifolia have been treated and she's working on the next two or three. The ones that are finished and are now in the press have come out really well - the parchment has regained its flexibility, it is flat (so should copy well) and the writing is very easy to read. She hasn't yet tackled the worst affected sections which are stuck together, but we're really pleased with the initial results.
Jenny.
Jenny Watts
Senior Archivist
Norfolk Record Office
|
| Back to the buried records page or back to early transcriptions (of records before they were buried). |
|
Click here