The archives are,
in fact, proof, as is
so often the case,
that our ancestors
were not idiots.
However, once they brought the price down to a
less eye-watering level, the philanthropist Raymond
Ffennel purchased the cartouche in 1927 as a gift for
New College, Oxford, where the Warden and Fellows
hung it in the College Hall and thought no more
about it. It was only when New Hall was coming
together to house Warden Nicholas’s ancient panelling
that the penny finally dropped, and, in the true spirit
of the Amicabilis Concordia, New College presented
the long-lost cartouche to Winchester.
Throughout this tale, the archives had triumphed,
proving they are not just boxes of dusty vellum
and paper, but a living and functioning part of the
College’s life, its black box recorder, vital to its affairs.
The archives are, in fact, proof, as is so often the
case, that our ancestors were not idiots. The ancient
written records are still kept in Wykeham’s original
iron-bound wooden chests in a thick-walled and
unheated medieval tower. As a result, their condition
is astounding, with none of the brittle, wrinkled
pages or obliterated writing typical of so many
medieval manuscripts.
Among the treasures are priceless royal documents,
from Charles II and I, Henry VI, Richard I,
William Rufus, Cnut, Edmund, all the way back
to AD 924. There is even a Bursar’s account roll
from 1415 containing news brought to College of
the English victory at Agincourt, said to be the first
written mention of the battle in England. Nearby are
the Civil War expenses incurred by Roundhead troops
under Old Wykehamist (and Founder’s kin) Colonel
Nathaniel Fiennes, who protected the School’s chapel,
statues, and archives, as well as William of Wykeham’s
effigy and chantry in the cathedral, keeping them all
safe from the hammers, pickaxes, and bonfires of his
more fanatical fellow Puritans. Perhaps most famously,
there is a collection of Anglo-Saxon royal charters;
26 The Wykeham Journal 2014
Michael Wood even sat in the Muniments’ Tower
poring over them for his recent 2013 BBC television
series on the Anglo-Saxons.
So, the exquisite panelling is whole again, and now
spectacularly displayed in New Hall, along with
two wondrous medieval heraldic tapestries which
the records show were celebration pieces woven for
the christening of Arthur, Prince of Wales (born and
christened in Winchester in 1486), son of Henry VII
and older brother of Henry VIII. Following recent
conservation and rebacking arranged by Suzanne,
they now add a flamboyant dash of colour to the
drama of the hall.
Back in Warden Harmar’s exquisite Elizabethan
study, I ask Suzanne what is keeping her busy at
the moment. Enquiries from all over the world,
she answers, something different every day:
scholars interested in Wykeham’s papers, litigants
researching land ownership, and requests for
information on nearly six-and-a-half centuries of
individual teachers and pupils. Right now, she is
deep into the records of Winchester’s contribution
to World Wars One and Two.
When at the School, I had no idea the archives even
existed. Now, Suzanne puts on exhibitions, talks to
the men about the priceless documents, ancient royal
seals, and conservation, and assists the dons in making
the extraordinary resource available to enhance
their teaching. She came to the College from the
Hampshire Record Office as the first trained archivist
the College had ever permanently retained. It was the
right thing to do. The College archives hold much
that is of interest far beyond the School’s high walls,
and its treasures need to be more widely known and
available to those interested in this utterly unique
private collection. They have been gathered across
an unbroken period of almost 650 years in a historydrenched leading royal and episcopal city, in which
the College has long played a prominent role.
The archive is, truly, a national treasure.
The Wykeham Journal 2014 27