MEMBERS of Hyde 900 examined historic documents about the history of Hyde Abbey.

With city MP Steve Brine, they visited The National Archives in Kew last Wednesday (Sep10) to examine important documents.

Hosted by Adrian Ailes, a records specialist at Kew, the chairman of Hyde900, Steve Marper, and founder, Edward Fennell, along with five colleagues and Alison Lawrence from the University of Winchester, were able to look closely at some of the most important sources of information about Hyde in the 16th century.

The highlight of the display was the Valor Ecclesiasticus which was commissioned by Henry VIII so he would know how much wealth the Church had in England and Wales. This information was used to decide which monasteries should be closed and sealed the fate of the abbey at Hyde because it revealed its considerable assets.

Perhaps what most impressed the party from Hyde, however, were various seals linked to the abbey and its abbots. Some of these were in beautiful condition and illustrated the patrons of the abbey – such as St Valentine, St Barnabas and St Grimbald – as well as King Alfred himself.

Mr Marper said: “This was an exceptional opportunity to take advantage of the superb resources of the National Archives to delve into the history of Hyde.

“We hope that it might be possible at some point in the next year or two to bring some of these fascinating documents down to Winchester so that people here can see them at first hand.”