The Assheton of Middleton project has had many exciting events over the past year and the most memorable was a sports day with a difference as we hosted the Assheton History and Archery Day earlier this spring. Through generous funding from Lottery players and other heritage organisations, we in Manchester Archives have had a fascinating year taking a deep dive into the archives of the Assheton family and the local history of Greater Manchester, particularly the Middleton area.
In 2023 we were successful in bidding for funding which allowed us to purchase the Assheton of Middleton archive, a collection of over 1400 documents which capture life in Middleton and Lancashire from the medieval to the early modern period. This means that this important part of our history is now held forever for the communities of Greater Manchester and will continue to be cared for here at the Greater Manchester County Record Office, based at Archives+ in Central Library.
Alongside securing its future, we’ve been able to do some amazing activities to help understand the wealth of local history within this important collection. First up was to gather together a few interested folk who wanted to spend time getting to know the stories in the archive and how to bring them out into our communities. Next was the very thorny issue of reading the documents which are fragile handwritten manuscripts ranging in age from 200 years old to 830 years old. For this we needed to hone our palaeography skills – the eyewateringly difficult art of reading and translating very old handwriting. Luckily we had some expert tuition from local historian Sarah Hitchen who ably led us through some basic skills in reading and interpreting historic English manuscripts.
We’ve tackled lots of things along the way including learning more modern techniques in how to handle, care for and store these ultra delicate documents so that they will continue to survive in good condition for the next 800+ years. Our volunteers joined us for workshops where we explored how early ink was made from oak galls and iron, and why it behaves like acid on paper documents which are already acidified through the tannins in their composition. What can we do to protect this precious history? Stabilisation and storage in controlled conditions is the answer – acid free tissue wraps delicate wax seals, acid free enclosures house folded documents secured by soft cotton tape and all of this is encased in double-sided archival boxes and store in secure conditions in our archival strongrooms under stable air temperature and humidity.
There have been lots of visits and public talks in Bury, Ramsbottom, Middleton and Manchester where local history groups have enjoyed hearing about our research and also contributing stories of their own about the Asshetons and the Middleton area. Who could forget the beauty of St Leonard’s the parish church of Middleton which is mentioned in the archive and which holds a wealth of colour and heritage in its very stones. Not many men would have wanted to be press-ganged by “Spanking Roger” Captain Aytoun who recruited soldiers by the help of brutal boxing and football matches with lucrative prizes if you won or military enlistment if you lost!
One of the most unassuming items within the collection has a mysterious past which raises many questions. A tiny piece of parchment reveals itself to be a very rare employment record – essentially a contract to pay for the secondment of Robert Legg, a local agricultural worker “wel and ably arrayed as hyt appertaineth to an archer”. His pay of 6pence a day whilst away fighting in “the Kinge’s Warres” probably meant he was a mounted archer and a key part of the biggest fighting force which invaded France in 1475 during the Hundred Years War. Middleton’s longbowmen were renowned in English military history and their part in the victorious battle of Flodden Field against the Scots in 1513 is well documented by the beautiful Flodden Window at Middleton parish church.
The extraordinary story behind this document was the inspiration to a very unusual part of the Assheton project. We wanted to bring this fascinating history to life by introducing learning activities which combined a Horrible-Histories style lesson with a hands-on Archery Tournament. Our project partners were two amazing local archery clubs, the Rochdale Company of Archers and the Assheton Bowmen who willingly lent their skills and expertise in helping us host a range of school sessions and public events across Greater Manchester showing how history really can be cool when you find yourself shooting real arrows or wearing medieval chainmail in the form of a haubergeon and coif.
The grand finale of the project was the Assheton History and Archery Day which proved to be a sports day with a difference. One Saturday in early March saw a keen group of enthusiasts gather at the Assheton Bowmen club to immerse themselves in Assheton archives and a brilliant Archery Tryout Tournament. The day unearthed some talented young archers as people of all ages and backgrounds came together united purely by their love of history and the chance to have a go at this unusual historic sport.
Our thanks go to Assheton Bowmen club particularly coaches Terry, David, Ian, volunteer Emma and champion tournament longbowman Hamish, who kindly lent his longbows, trophies and handmade chainmail gear to share his love of this astonishing period in English history.
There’s so much more to discover from this treasure box of Greater Manchester heritage including stories of the English Civil War such as the Storming of Bolton, alongside what everyday life was like for the aristocrats and the ordinary people, crime and punishment, farming and families, marrying and money.
If you’d like to learn more about the amazing Assheton of Middleton archive, we’ve created a free learning resource in the form of a downloadable pdf.
This is suitable for adults and young people ages 12yrs upwards. If you’d like to try your hand at palaeography, you can see a small selection of the documents on the Manchester Archivesplus Flickr page:
E7 – Assheton of Middleton | Flickr and we hope to add to this alongside transcripts as we digitise more of the collection.
For children and schools our partners the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society have created education resources suitable for Key Stage 2-3 children with heraldry and palaeography challenges:
You can also find our Assheton archives catalogue at GM Lives here:
gmlives.org.uk/results.html#imu[rid=ecatalogue.194540]
and make an appointment to view much of the collection in our Searchroom at Manchester Central Library.