10,000 Scrolls – A wander through over 500 years of Parliamentary Acts
Hundreds upon hundreds of acts arrayed on the shelves of the Act room.
Today I got a very unique opportunity today to take a tour of the Parliamentary Act room. We ascended a small iron spiral staircase and entered the chamber. The room was crammed with act upon act some not much larger than an A4 sheet of paper, others were meters upon meters in length (the largest are apparently the rather boring finance bills). A slight musky scent filled the room (hardly surprising give then vast quantities of vellum within).
These acts dated back since 1497 and have an almost uninterrupted run to modern day. The only exception being the acts from 1649-1660 all of which were destroyed with the restoration of the monarchy (that was quite a sad moment thinking all these historical documents being lost forever). Some of the acts were wrapped in what looked like a form a tissue paper. This was apparently due to them being taken out of Parliament in WW2 and stored for protection in a cellar. The cellar turned out to be a bit damp and the tissue has been used to fight the mould and damp that set in this time. The intention is clear, no other acts will go the way of the acts of the 1650s.
Signature of Henry VIII
After perusing the shelves, we were taken to look at few of the acts in detail. I got to see the attainder of Thomas Cromwell (essentially his death warrant), which interesting Henry VIII did not sign. There were also acts signed by Henry himself (we were informed by our guide this was challenged by a visitor once who asked how that could be his signatory as there is no VIII at the end). It was very special to see these beautiful documents written and signed centuries ago. Interestingly Ann Boleyn did not get an attainder, but the men she was accused of committing adultery with did get an attainder, a pity. Still I imagine under the circumstances of pending execution, that there was no Act dedicated to her was probably not the main grievance on her mind.
An incorporation of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act
Moving on from Henry we saw Acts drawn up in the time of his daughter Elizabeth. It was interesting to see an act dedicated to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (I have a personal interest in this having gone to one of these unis for my masters, the better one i should add, the one which won the very prestigious Oxford and Cambridge Goat race this year).
As we finished we were informed that sadly this would be the last tour of the Act room before it was closed and the Acts were moved to start the restoration and renewal project of the Palace of Westminster. I am very glad i got the chance to experience this little slice of British history, a truly wonderful repository of the past.