Over 600 broadsides published between 1755 and 1827 with two examples dating from 1690. The collection consists of church briefs, which are royal licences issued on matters concerning the building of new churches in England and Wales, and the repair and restoration of existing buildings destroyed by fire. Church briefs thus provided official approval for the raising of money in churches and chapels for charitable causes. They were abolished in 1828 by an act of Parliament (9 Geo. IV, c. 28.).

Organisation

The collection is arranged in chronological order in boxes. Pre-1801 items only are catalogued individually and have the shelfmark 'Crawford.CB.'. The post-1800 items are not catalogued.

Acquisition

Deposited in 1988.