Chris Hutchings (pictured) the group’s chairman recently saw that a very large group of documents regarding Watton was being sold at Auction and successfully bid for them. He has generously given them on permanent loan to the group for display and research.
The several thousand pages consist of the records of the Court Baron of the Manor of Watton Hall from the 1600’s up to 1924 (when Courts Baron were abolished) together with many other legal documents covering the four centuries.
Initial inspection has provided proof of the date of the great fire of Watton, a postscript to the
minute written on 24th April 1674 says, (interpreted from the latin), ‘On the following day the town by a violent fire was burnt’.
The ownership of such documents, which are extremely rare, must be, and has been, registered with the Historic Manuscripts Commission.
400 YEARS OF HISTORY SAVED FOR THE TOWN OF WATTON