The Manorial Documents Register (MDR) records information on the location of manorial records excluding title deeds. Manor court rolls and other documents are a valuable source for the study of villages and parishes in the medieval and early modern period. Manorial records have been used for the study of social and economic activity, including markets and mills, peasant culture and diet, buildings and transport. Also, they are a source of evidence for demography, landholding and legal activity.

The MDR identifies the location of manorial records. Manors are indexed alphabetically, by manor name, within counties. The MDR is neither an index to hamlets, villages or place-names within a manor, nor does it comprise an index to the places, properties and people which may be referred to in the documents. The records themselves must be consulted to extract this information. The Parish Index indicates which manors are known to have been connected with a particular parish. The MDR can also be a good indicator of archive collections which include records relating to a specific area, in that the collections may well include other relevant documents which are not defined as manorial.

The MDR is partially computerised – Wales, the Isle of Wight, Hampshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Surrey and the three Ridings of Yorkshire are all available to search online. The computerised section of the MDR, along with guidance notes on how to search and further information about manorial documents, can be found here.

However the majority of the counties have not yet been computerised and MDR entries are still only available for consultation in our reading rooms. Before you visit us it is a good idea to know the parish or manor you are interested in as the MDR is arranged alphabetically by manor, according to county. The slips in the MDR binders will show you the location, date range and type of documents held for the relevant manor.