The Minster Fabric Rolls, 1418-1422
The fabric rolls, which date back to c. 1360, are the accounts of the Minster's keeper of the fabric - its overseer of building works. The 1418 and 1419 rolls record payments towards the building and fitting out of the library; the 1422 roll records payments for the labelling of Neuton's books and for chains and locks to secure them in the library.
The head of the 1422 roll. The fifteenth-century rolls are written in Latin on parchment sheets, which are stitched together end-to-end and rolled up for storage. (Reference: York Minster, Archives of the Chapter of York, E3 (10), m. 1.) Photograph: Max Communications Ltd; © The Chapter of York.