Curator's Choice - a Medieval Cartulary

Sarah Griffin, Assistant Archivist at Lambeth Palace Library, tells us about one of her favourite objects in the exhibition 'Moral & Material Decay: Four centuries of the Court of Arches', a cartulary of Fineshade Abbey, 13th–14th century [Arches Ff 291].

Cartularies are compilations of charters and other documents relating to the financial and legal administration of an institution. This example contains maps, surveys, and deeds related to Fineshade Abbey in Northamptonshire. In 1666, Walter Kirkham submitted the cartulary to the Court as an exhibit to prove he did not own land in a part of Blatherwycke, Northamptonshire. Had he not submitted it, the manuscript may not have survived.