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Loseley manuscripts (1520-1600)

Sir William More is, perhaps, an improbable Surrey hero. Though a fine, upstanding gentleman, friendly with some of the great names of the Elizabethan age, including the Queen herself, he was not a statesman, soldier or author, but a typical Tudor gentleman who spent most of his time managing his estates and involving himself in county affairs. It is what he left behind that causes us to pay him tribute.

In the 1560s he rebuilt Loseley House outside Guildford, a splendid mansion still cared for by his descendants. In its muniment room there accumulated over centuries, the Loseley Manuscripts; private letters and official documents relating to the family’s activities.

The manuscripts, now in Surrey History Centre, give a wonderful insight into Surrey in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Image courtesy of Surrey History Centre, Woking