| Description | This series covers fifty years between 1547 and 1663, with some gaps. Most of the accounts are in roll form, with a few exceptions, and many of them have undergone extensive repairs. The format is fairly standard and is described in detail below. There is some overlap with the Miscellaneous Accounts series (MA 39-41) where draft or quarterly forms of some of the accounts may be found. There is an account for 1540-1541 in the first Receiver's account (RA 1).
All the accounts are in Roman numerals except the last two which use the Arabic forms. From 1610 they are endorsed with the Treasurer's name and the date of the account. They appear to have been superseded by the Treasurers' Books (TB).
The accounts deal with the expenses of the cathedral and always begin with the year's allowance from the Receiver General's office and any arrears left over from the previous year. They all run from Michaelmas to Michaelmas (29 Sept). The salaries of the Dean and Prebendaries are then listed, followed by the stipends of the preachers, the minor canons and the lay clerks. The stipends of the master of the choirboys and the choristers and that of the headmaster of the grammar school are detailed, with the grammar school boys' salaries. In most of the accounts the boys are listed in full.
Until 1567 the salaries of students at Oxford and Cambridge are noted. The payments made to the twelve bedesmen and to the various workmen in the cathedral follow this section. The remaining parts of the accounts include the payments made to the monarch for first fruits and tenths, any pensions and procurations, highway repairs, alms, fees for the ordinaries and others, necessary expenses (both expected and unexpected) and payments for repairs and building materials. TA 7 includes the expenses of the visit of Elizabeth I.
After the Reformation, financial affairs were regulated by two canons who were annually elected to the posts of Treasurer and Receiver. The Receiver oversaw the collection of revenues from the Cathedral's estates, while the Treasurer disbursed these revenues, usually in wages and repairs.
Thus each series of financial records has two parallel parts, the records of the Receiver and those of the Treasurer. The records themselves fall into two main categories; accounts and vouchers. Vouchers (DCc-TV and DCc-RV) are the day-to-day bills and receipts of Receiver and Treasurer while the accounts contain a summarised version of the vouchers and the officers' financial statements for the year. Some post-reformation and pre-restoration vouchers are to be found in the Rural Economy and Domestic Economy series.
The accounts series has a further subdivision, caused by a change in format and style after the Restoration, when the roll form of the earlier series was replaced by books and Latin by English. Thus accounts from 1540-1663 may be found in the Treasurers' or Receivers' Accounts (DCc-TA or DCc-RA), while the new format (1660 onwards) are in the Treasurers' or Receivers' Books series (DCc-TB or DCc-RB). |