Hidden Documents

Fragment from the Tresham Papers

The Tresham Papers are a good illustration of how chance events can conspire to preserve the most unlikely documents in even more unlikely places. Sir Thomas Tresham although fiercely loyal to Queen Elizabeth I and even knighted by her in 1575 at Kenilworth, would not renounce his Catholic faith and so spent many years of his life in prison. This was the first chance event since it forced him to correspond with his steward and gardener, in order that the construction and gardening work he wanted to complete at  his ‘Lodge’ at Lyveden could continue in his absence.

These letters have been a valuable source of information for historians wanting to restore the gardens and to understand the garden journey Tresham planned from the manor at Old Bield up to his Lodge at New Bield. In particular the letter written in 1597 suggests varieties of fruit and nut trees to be planted in his orchards. Some are familiar to us but perhaps more unusual are the Winter Queening, Dr. Harvey and Costard apples.

The fragment of letter shown below shows how the damp has affected the survival of the whole letter. Tresham also referred to his ‘walnut tree walk’ and asks for 100 black cherries to be removed from his nursery to create a cherry walk. It is possible that these two walks were features of the lower orchard.

Doorway at Rushton Manor

It is probable that these letters would not have been considered important enough by future generation to have been preserved, but again chance took a hand. Tresham’s eldest son Francis became involved in the Gun Powder Plot of November 1605 and he was arrested. It seems that many documents, some of which may have been incriminating, were hastily bundled into a wall cavity at Rushton Manor, the Tresham’s main house, and plastered in. Among them were the innocuous garden and building instructions. There they remained until building work in either 1828 or 1832 uncovered them over the doorway. Luckily by the nineteen century old documents were valued and so they made their way to the British Library.

Postscript:

Francis Tresham was arrested on 12th November 1605 for his part in the Gunpowder Plot and died in the Tower on 23rd December.

The papers include:

• 5 volumes of accounts recorded by George Levens, steward at Lyveden, for the period 1596-1602;

• copies of letters written by Tresham during his imprisonment, including letters regarding progress in the building operations at Lyveden;

• letters from Tresham’s workforce at Lyveden;

• notes on possible designs and dimensions for the Lodge at Lyveden, including numerological speculations;

• notes on theology and contemporary politics;

• records of Tresham’s book collection.