Archive
The Washburn Heritage Centre Archive is a collection of over 7000 items, including:
A large numbers of photos
Original and copied documents, including newspaper cuttings
Other memorabilia and ephemera relevant to the Washburn Valley
Film, video and sound recordings including an extensive oral history project
Paper and electronic copies of numerous temporary exhibitions
The findings of on-site archaeological investigation
References to relevant reference books, some owned by members, some not
References to relevant websites
References to heritage items held by private individuals who may be willing to make them available for borrowing or photographing- e.g. wartime memorabilia and old farm implements
We welcome requests for information from our extensive archive for personal use. We ask that an enquirer pay a set-up fee of £5 and become a member (£10 per annum) after which they may order material from archive handlist for a 12 month period. The minimum charge is £5. Each scanned image or scanned page is priced at £2.50 each. Please complete the /uploads/documents/WHC_Archive_Information_and_Membership_form_updated_Aug_22.docx If the enquirer is requesting material for use other than personal, then permission is required and the enquirer should complete the /uploads/documents/WHC_Application_for_Commercial_Supply_of_Images_form_updated_August_2022.docx which indicates the scale of charges. The set-up fee is £30 and each item requested is priced at £5. On receipt of the completed form and payment, WHC will issue a licence for the commercial use of material. Please do not use the general 'Find & Contact' form for archive enquiries. A plan of the Graveyard is available to view here Fewston Graveyard Plan.
The archive is a 'live' resource and is updated monthly by a team of volunteers. Therefore, it is recommended that enquirers regularly check the downloadable handlist on the website.
Open Sources
There are several open sources available to those interested in local geneaology and the history of the Washburn valley. Some of these open sources are listed below. You may find it easier to highlight the emboldened title and then copy and paste into your browser.
1 Lists of monumental Inscriptions of people buried in Fewston Graveyard -at the "Wayback machine" at archive.org
1a The introductory page is here https://web.archive.org/web/20041208015746/http://www.tealfamily.co.uk:80/fewstonmi.htm
1b The transcriptions of the Gravestones is here https://web.archive.org/web/20041206225005/http://www.tealfamily.co.uk:80/fewstoninsc.htm
2 The Calverley website has transcripts of births deaths and marriages in the area http://www.calverley.info/church_menu_coe.htm
3 There are also a few online books which you can download that you may find useful on the Fewston area:
3a Lays and Leaves of the Forest of Knaresborough by Reverend Thomas Parkinson https://archive.org/details/laysleavesoffore00parkiala/page/n8
3b History and Topography of Harrogate and the Forest of Knaresborough by William Grainge
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sMFPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP14&dq=Knaresborough+forest+history+enclosures&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6j_OYppviAhVnA2MBHd-wBpEQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
3c The History and Topography of the Townships of Little Timble, Great Timble and Snowden by William Grainge https://archive.org/details/historytopograp00graigoog/page/n14
3d A picturesque history of Yorkshire by Fletcher and Smith https://archive.org/details/picturesquehisto02flet/page/n7
3e Nidderdale, from Nun Monkton to Whernside by Harry Speight https://archive.org/details/nidderdalefromnu00spei/page/n4
3f Higher Wharfeland: The Dale of Romance by Edmund Bogg https://archive.org/details/higherwharfeland00boggiala/page/n3
3g Nidderdale and the garden of the Nidd: a Yorkshire Rhineland by Harry Speight https://archive.org/details/nidderdaleandga00speigoog/page/n6
4 Part of the parish of Fewston was in the Forest of Knaresborough. You can find Wills and administrations from the Knaresborough court rolls published by the Surtees Society on archive.org
4a Volume one Tudor wills and administrations https://archive.org/details/willsadministra02hongoog/page/n8
4b Volume two wills and administrations from 1603-1660 https://archive.org/details/willsadministrat02knaruoft/page/n8
5 For maps of the local area we suggest you use the National Library of Scotland's online maps .
5a The link to the area is here https://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/#zoom=14&lat=53.9954&lon=-1.7255&layers=102&b=1&point=0,0
5b Or you can use the Find by Place link here https://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/#zoom=5&lat=56.0000&lon=-4.0000&layers=102&b=1&point=0,0
6 You can search the Yorkshire County Record Offices collections online:
6a County Record Office at Northallerton online catalogue https://archivesunlocked.northyorks.gov.uk/CalmView/default.aspx
6b West Yorkshire Archive Services online catalogue https://www.catalogue.wyjs.org.uk/calmview/
6c East Yorkshire online catalogue can be searched here https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/CalmView/
7 The Washburn valley was in the Diocese of York. You can search the Borthwick catalogue at the University of York here https://borthcat.york.ac.uk/
8 The British Newspaper Archive, which includes some Yorkshire newspapers, can be searched here https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/
9 The National Archives can be searched here https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
The Fewston Assemblage is the name given to the sets of skeletal remains and artefacts that had to be removed from the Fewston churchyard in 2009 and 2010 to allow the Washburn Heritage Centre to be built. Read more...
