New to the Wimborne Minster Chained Library for 2023, is the Manor Court Book, a 17th-century manuscript book of 266 pages.

It was purchased by Dorset Archives Trust in 2019 with generous support from Wimborne Minster Town Council and volunteers from the Minster’s Chained Library.

The manuscript is an important addition to the Chained Library, founded in the Minster in 1685 and a public reference library from 1695.

The Book is a record of the proceedings of the manor court and contains the minutes taken at court sessions.

It contains details of more than 90 of the courts held in the name of three Lords of the Manor.

The records are in Latin except for the period between 1651 and 1672, when they were in English during Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth and the early restoration of the monarchy.

The book was handed over by Jessica Pollard, conservator at the Dorset History Centre.
The Wimborne Minster Chained Library is open to the public for the 2023 season Monday to Friday mornings and afternoons and the first Saturday morning in the month.