The National Manuscripts Conservation Trust offers grants for the conservation and preservation of manuscripts and archives. Since the NMCT was founded in 1990 it has awarded grants of over £3m, which have enabled the conservation of hundreds of musical, literary, architectural and other vital historical documents. Our grants ensure that these important collections can once more be made accessible to the public and researchers.
The next deadline for the submission of applications is 1st April 2019 and the results will be announced in early July. If you want to plan ahead, the deadline after that is 1st October 2019.
We welcome grant applications from non-national institutions such as county record offices, museums, university archives/special collections, cathedral archives and libraries, as well as owners of manuscripts that are exempt from capital taxation or owned by a charitable trust.
Our grants can cover conservation, binding and other preservation measures, including digitisation (providing it is part of a wider conservation project). The significance of the collection or items to be conserved, as well as the proposed conservation treatment, are carefully reviewed by Trustees when making their decisions.
Among the grants awarded to Cathedrals, or for Cathedral collections, are:
- Winchester Cathedral: The Winchester Bible
- Gloucester Cathedral:
- Hereford Cathedral: Conservation of 12th century glossed Psalter, MS 0.VI.12
- St Paul’s Cathedral: Conservation of the architectural archive.
- Westminster Abbey: Rehousing of Westminster Abbey’s royal grants and charters
- Worcester Cathedra: Conservation of medieval manuscripts
- Exeter Cathedral: Conservation of Exeter Cathedral Archives
- Hampshire Record Office: Winchester Cathedral pre-1540 court and account rolls.
Applications must be submitted on our application form, which you can download from our website: www.nmct.co.uk.
If you have any queries about whether your project is eligible or about our application process you are most welcome to contact Mrs Nell Hoare, who manages the Trust. You can contact her either through the NMCT’s website or at info@nmct.co.uk.
NMCT is the only grant giver solely focused on manuscript conservation and we are keen to spread the benefit of the funding that we have available, so do consider applying.
Scottish applications are keenly sought. See NMCT’s recent Annual Review for more information about funded projects, here.