The collection is made up of over 200 legal documents, dating from c.1200 through to 1855, and relating mainly to the counties of Derbyshire and Leicestershire. Although there is a number of small groups of related documents, the majority of documents have apparently come from many different sources and have no obvious association. An exception is the deeds and leases concerning land in the manors of Market Bosworth and Cadeby, Leicestershire; all the Leicestershire material relates to the Dixie family of Market Bosworth.
Among the earliest documents are a charter of Reginald, Prior of Repton, relating to Willington, Derbyshire (c. 1230) and a charter of Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster to the Church at Dore (1276). Other records range from fifteenth-century charters of Abney, Derbyshire, to eighteenth-century court roll copies relating to land in the manor of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Leases, bonds and copy wills are also present.