To mark the 70th anniversary of supporting the Essex Record Office, the Friends of Historic Essex (registered charity no. 325270), has produced a lavishly illustrated book of over 70 full-colour illustrations. It has been edited by Neil Wiffen, one of the archivists at the Essex Record Office. 

The intention is to highlight the extraordinary breadth of manuscript and printed documents, books and recordings that are looked after in the strong rooms at Chelmsford. It is not a textbook or a ‘how to’ book but rather a celebration of the richness of holdings in a County Record Office.

With documents ranging in date from the thirteenth to the twenty-first centuries, written and drawn on paper and parchment but also including cinefilm and cassette tapes (a selection of the latter are available to listen to digital recordings via QR codes), it can only touch the surface of what is available to study. Hopefully it will inspire all who read it to visit the Record Office – what will you discover?

The document selected by Herbert Eiden for this publication is an extract from the court roll of the Manor of Copford for 15 December 1383. In the course of a dispute about the ownership of land, it is noted that the 'court rolls had been burnt during the time of rumour'. Herbert comments that 'in the case of Copford, the burning of the court rolls, a major form of protest during the rising, has been overlooked by previous studies on the revolt in Essex. This example also shows that it can take years, in this case two and a half years, until the destruction is mentioned in court rolls'.

By contrast, the choice of Herbert's predecessor as editor of the Victoria County History of Essex, Dr Christopher Thornton, for this volume is an extract of an extent of the manors of Walton, Thorpe and Kirby from 1297, that somehow escaped the burning of estate records belonging to the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's London at Thorpe-le-Soken on 16 June 1381 and was found six hundred years later in a solicitor's office.   

All proceeds from sales of this publication go to the Friends of Historic Essex enabling them to continue their support of the work of the Essex Record Office. The book can be ordered here.