Hidden deeds found after centuries to be archived

A collection of historical documents discovered in a chest after hundreds of years has been donated to university archivists.

The documents, dating back to at least the 17th Century, were found in the chest in an outhouse in Upper Broughton, Nottinghamshire, in 2023.

Members of the Upper Broughton History Group have since worked to extract information from the documents and catalogue them.

Now the documents, offering a window into the village's history, have been donated to the University of Nottingham.

The collection of deeds and other documents about local properties was first donated to the group by farmer Nick Connors, whose father had found them in the 1960s or 70s at a farm he had bought.

Rushcliffe Borough Council then provided a grant to the group to fund its work.

Kathryn Steenson, senior archivist at manuscripts and special collections at the university, said the group had done a "fantastic job" and that the archives would now be available to students and the public.

The documents give an idea of what life was like in the East Midlands "across the centuries", giving people a "real sense of connection to the past", Ms Steenson added.

She said: "There are quite a few generations of the same family who appear, and there are still people in the area who have those same surnames.

"Some of the families have stayed quite local, and others were involved in trade on a more national scale, so you've got people who went away and made their fortune, and you can see their beginnings in Upper Broughton."

Dr Rebecca Gregory, assistant professor in historical linguistics and onomastics at the university, said there was "nothing like unfolding a document for the first time to see the handwriting, names and a snapshot of history it contains".

Carol Mounteney, one of the members of the Upper Broughton History Group, added the documents had changed her understanding of history.

She said: "Land ruled the lives of the people over past centuries, disputes arose between owners of the land and family disputes of that ownership.

"Even the monarchy of the day would be asked to intervene in these local disputes, passing judgements to resolve these matters."

The university will catalogue the documents, adding to its existing archive, and the collection will be made available to both the public and for teaching.

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