King's College Estate Records

Researchers investigating early manorial governance, religious houses, farming practices, genealogy, and alterations to land boundaries or properties, will find evidence in such records as court rolls, accounts, maps, tenancy agreements, and leases. 164 estates in 30 counties ranging west to St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, east to Toft Monks in Norfolk, north to Allerton Mauleverer in Yorkshire, and south to Hooe in Sussex, all document ecclesiastical and secular communities from the Middle Ages to the present day.

From its foundation by Henry VI in 1441 to the present day, King's College has preserved records of its internal administration, the construction of its buildings, and the lives of its members. The archives include the administrative records of estates the College was given by Henry VI, many of which were the lands of the so-called alien priories, such as the Norman Abbey of Bec, confiscated by the Crown in 1414. These lands brought their written memory with them in the form of charters and court records, in some cases going back to the 11th century.

Records less than 100 years old may be on restricted access.

These papers are available for consultation at King's College, Cambridge, four days a week most of the year, by appointment only. For further details or to make an appointment please email archivist@kings.cam.ac.uk

A catalogue of King's College's estates records can be seen on the JANUS website.