Somerset OPC - Online Parish Clerks

Parish registers were first introduced by Thomas Cromwell in 1538. From that date, every parish church was required to acquire a sure coffer (i.e. parish chest) within which their records could be securely stored.

The chest maintained by the parish was in ancient times a hollow trunk, fastened with three keys, the latter to be kept severally by the bishop, the priest, and a religious layman. By the mid-1500's, the parishioners in every parish were directed by law to provide a strong chest with a hole in the upper part thereof, and having three keys, for holding the alms for the poor. The chest was also a place in which the parish registers and other parish documents were kept. A single chest could have been used for both purposes (alms and documents) or two or more chests were kept by the parish.

Chests were plain or ornate, according to the desire of the person who purchased or donated it. It was sometimes kept in the home of the minister, but more often kept in the parish church. A chest from Wimbourne, Dorset, made from the trunk of a tree, is 6 feet long on the outside, but the cavity is only 22 inches by 9 inches by 6 inches. One of the longest, 10 feet long, is found at Curdworth in Warwick. Most chests are of box type. About 1680 they were from walnut, the soft wood lending itself to elaborate carving. Mahogany became more fashionable starting in the 1750's. Later, after 1812 when the law required safe custody of the registers the chest was often an iron box.

Although the chest was a requirement, what was kept therein and the condition of the box itself varied from parish to parish. The papers and documents stored inside, although maybe untidy, were preserved reasonably well. Their survival, however, depended not only upon the local mouse population, but also the housekeeping enthusiasm of various people keen to clear away old rubbish.

Click on the menu items under the TRANSCRIPTIONS in the menu on the left to browse the records stored in our sure Coffer.