31 August 2006

Charter from 1774 on display

A charter that dates back to 1774 will be displayed in public for first time in decades tonight, thanks to the conservation team at the University of Dundee.

The Seaman’s Charter is being displayed in City Chambers and details the rules and regulations for the Fraternity of the Masters and Seamen who celebrate their 450th anniversary this year.

The team of conservators at the University of Dundee became involved after funding was raised to restore the charter. It had been folded into a box for several years and needed restoring before it was in a state fit to be shown to the public.

Vanessa Charles, senior conservator at the Book & Paper Conservation Studio based in the main library of the University of Dundee says "The charter is made of old parchment and has a heavy wax seal attached, so we had to be careful. It was very dirty but the main problem was that it had been folded."

"We used latex sponges to clean the document and designed a mount to display it on. It was really a joy to work on such a lovely document and I hope the Fraternity of Masters & Seaman enjoy looking at it."

There is a civic reception at 7:00pm tonight at City Chambers to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Fraternity of Masters & Seaman. Please contact City Chambers for more details.

NOTE FOR EDITORS:

Pics are available of the charter in its restored state.

For media enquiries contact:

Anna Day
Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: a.c.day@dundee.ac.uk