This series contains the documents that gave the Prior and Monks (later Dean and Chapter) their rights and property. There are also title deeds relating to third parties that may have been lodged with the Cathedral for security. Many of the parties seem to have a connection to the Cathedral, eg clerks, porters but more work needs to be done to fully understand why these documents were held by the Abbey. The section includes:-

· Charters and grants of land to the abbey, incl. licences in mortmain

· Grants of customs, rights and liberties to the abbey

· Charters and grants by the abbey

· Title deeds relating to third parties

The documents have been arranged as listed below. This is apparently the original order of the series as noted by Archdeacon Chapman in the late 19th century. The Royal Grants section includes not only grants of land to the Prior and convent but also royal charters sent to the Prior in his role as a local administrator and landowner, eg the Charter of the Forest, 1225. This charter did not contain any grant or instruction specifically aimed at Ely but was a copy of a document sent to all sheriffs, Bishops and other local officials.

The most important items with regards to establishing the property, rights and liberties of the Prior and convent are contained in the royal and episcopal sections. This is where the most extensive of the lands and privileges granted to the convent – and later the Dean and Chapter - are recorded.

There are two 'former' reference numbers recorded in some entries. The most interesting is the “chest number”, ie the location reference used by the Cathedral when the documents were stored in wooden chests. The original order may be apparent from the chest number recorded on many of the documents. However, some chest numbers are missing, faded or damaged so it is not an infallible method. The person who transcribed this number may have misread some of them so the originals may need to be checked. As the numbers appear on the dorse of the documents, handling advice may need to be sought from Conservation before turning the items.

It is also possible that the documents were rearranged over the centuries for unknown administrative or legal purposes. The second former number seems to have been a running number given to the documents by Archdeacon Chapman, who undertook a substantial amount of work on the Cathedral archives in the late 19th century. According to Dorothy Owen in a paper published in Church and Government in the Middle Ages: Essays presented to CR Cheney, the deeds and charters were still in their original chests and pigeon holes until Chapman began working with them. EDC 1/B/1-53 Royal grants

EDC 1/B/55-90 Episcopal charters

EDC 1/B/91-103 Papal legates

EDC 1/B/104 Archdeacon of Ely

EDC 1/B/105-125 Prior and convent

EDC 1/B/130-143 Prior and convent and other houses EDC 1/B1-B44 Charters and deeds arranged by parish