Did you know?

Magna Carta was written on parchment, not on paper. Parchment was the normal writing material in England until the end of the Middle Ages. It was made from sheepskin which was soaked in a bath of lime, then stretched on a frame to dry under tension. When it was dry, the skin was scraped with a curved knife to produce a smooth writing surface for the scribes, who wrote their text with a quill pen.

RECREATING MAGNA CARTA ON PARCHMENT IN ODIHAM

William Cowley’s of Buckinghamshire are providing our Medieval Scribes, Helena and Phil, with Parchment and Vellum so that they can create new copies of Magna Carta and the vernacular transcription of Magna Carta (written in Odiham, 27th June 1215) 800 years after the event.

Paul Wright who is a parchmenter at William Cowley’s and one of the few people keeping the tradition alive, will be kindly providing us with a stretched skin on a frame for our Magna Carta Exhibition exhibition . Paul assures us that writing on parchment is an experience that is never forgotten!

You can see Paul in action and learn more about making parchment at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00n3rdf BBC 4 Illustrations: Dr Janina Ramirez explores vellum making for medieval manuscripts.

Parchment Making in Havant

Parchment was made in Havant for the best part of 1000 years. Local tradition says that Havant parchment was used for Magna Carta. Click here to find out more