§ The Earl of Sandwichasked the Chairman of Committees:
What plans there are for the conservation and public display of original records and constitutional documents in the House of Lords; which documents will in future be displayed in their original form; and which as facsimiles. [HL1391]
§ The Chairman of Committees (Lord Brabazon of Tara)The Record Office has recently replaced the document display cases in the Royal Gallery with new cases, approved by the Works of Art Committee, which are designed to meet professional standards for the display of original records. In future, displays will be changed regularly in order to protect the documents against the risk to their long-term preservation from over-exposure to light. These arrangements, which were agreed by the Administration and Works Sub-Committee in 2002, will enable a broader cross-section of the rich constitutional, legislative and historical content of the archives of both Houses to be viewed by visitors on the line of route.
Certain documents of significant historical and constitutional interest, such as the death warrant of Charles I(1649), the articles of union between England and Scotland (1706), and the draft Declaration of Rights (1689), have had to be returned to the archives for conservation reasons after many years of public display. Good quality images of such documents will instead be featured in a panel above the cases. The Record Office is investigating the options for the production of facsimile copies of these documents.