The Archives at Claydon are owned and managed by the Claydon House Trust, an independent charitable trust (Reg Charity no: 326677) set up in 1984.

The archives contain a fascinating collection of letters, papers and historic documents from centuries of Verney and Nightingale family history.

The Verney papers comprise the Verney letters and the records of the Verney estate.

The Verney Letters, dating from the 17th and 18th century, are recognized as one of the most significant series of personal correspondence in the world. They consist largely of the correspondence of Sir Ralph Verney, who seems to have kept every letter ever written to him, and some drafts of his answers as well. The letters provide a fascinating insight into the social and political climate of the day, especially during the Civil War, when Sir Ralph and his father, Sir Edmund, the King’s Standard Bearer, found themselves on opposing sides.

There is no printed catalogue of the Verney letters, but many of them were published in Memoirs of the Verney Family edited by Parthenope Lady Verney and Margaret Lady Verney. The Bucks Record Society is also in the process of compiling a searchable database of the Letters – please see https://www.bucksrecsoc.org.uk/verney/index.html for more information.

Microfilms of the letters are available in the UK at the British Library and the Bodleian Library and in the USA at Yale University, Princeton University and Dartmouth College.  In order to preserve the originals, access to the original letters held in the Archive is only granted in exceptional circumstances.

The records of the Verney estate include deeds, maps, rentals, estate correspondence, recipe books, drawings, personal papers and other documents one would expect a country house and its occupants to produce.

The Nightingale papers comprise letters of Florence Nightingale to her sister, Parthenope, and brother-in-law, Sir Harry Verney, and family papers and letters of Parthenope and her parents, W E and Fanny Nightingale. Copies of the letters from Florence Nightingale are available at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.

Copies of the catalogues are available at the National Archives, the British Library and Buckinghamshire Archives as well as at Claydon. The catalogue of the Nightingale papers is also available at the Wellcome Institute and the Derbyshire and Hampshire Record Offices.

The Archive is open by arrangement, usually once a month. There is a fee for access to the Archive, currently £30 per person per visit.

For enquiries or to arrange an appointment, please e-mail the Archivist (Sue Baxter) at: [email protected]

Please include your postal address when requesting an appointment.