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ALCESTER IS SO LUCKY
Alcester is fortunate in the wealth of its documentary source material. One wonders whether there is any other small town in the county with so much primary material at its fingertips, viz. in the record offices of Warwick, Worcester and Stratford. Firstly, there are the 'normal' documents, such as parish registers and records; but they start in 1560, earlier than many parishes. The wardens' reports are a particularly good series. The probate sources (wills and inventories) in Worcester R.0. ,from the 15th century to the 19th, are a splendid series indeed.
One thinks of the great number of apprentices' indentures from the 17th century, the result of three town charities. Then there are the manor court records and attendant estate papers from the 15th century to the present. Another treasure are the scores of leases of property and land from Warwick Castle ,containing a goodly proportion about Alcester.
© G.E. Saville 1992