About the Catalogue

This catalogue describes the archives, library collections and works of art held by The Clothworkers' Company.

The archives include the official records of The Clothworkers' Company [CL], generated and amassed from the sixteenth century to the present day. Series of particular note include:

Charters, Ordinances and Grants of Arms 1480 – 2015 [CL/A]
Book of Deeds and Wills, sixteenth century – [CL/A/4/4]
Orders of Court, 1538 – [CL/B/1]
Superintendence Committee minutes, 1837 - [CL/B/2]
Registers of Freemen, 1545 – [CL/C/3/1-2]
Registers of Apprentices, 1606-1908 [CL/C/4]
Wardens’ Account books, 1528-1766 [CL/D/7]
Records relating to bad workmanship/defective cloths, 1704-1747 [CL/E]
Title deeds and other property records, fourteenth century onwards [CL/G and Estate]
Plan books/property surveys including the Treswell and Porter plan books [CL/G/7]
Irish Estate records, seventeenth - nineteenth centuries [CL/G/Irish]
Records relating to charitable trusts administered by the Company, seventeenth century – [CL/G/Charity]

Although we do not actively collect former members’ papers, the Archive is fortunate to hold a small number of deposited manuscript collections, including the Angell Papers [CL/G/MSS/Angell] and the Samuel Gregory collection [CL/G/MSS/Gregory].

The online catalogue also includes catalogue records for our reference collection of library material and our collections of works of art including designer bookbindings [CLC/BB], silver [CLC/W] and tapestries [CLC/TN].

In addition, the catalogue includes selected images of documents, photographs, and objects drawn from our collections.

Please browse the Showcase to explore some of our collection highlights or use an Advanced search to begin your research.

If you have any questions about our holdings, or would like to request a research visit, please contact the Archivist at archivist@clothworkers.co.uk.