Manuscripts 'hidden in plain sight' reveals medieval history

Seventeen fragments of medieval manuscripts that had been "hidden in plain sight" for centuries have been uncovered in Guernsey.

Offering insight into the island's early literary culture, the fragments suggest late medieval Guernsey was home to keen readers, and reading in French rather than English was preferred.

Also regarded as "striking early examples of recycling", historians found the fragments were repurposed as covers for notebooks and bindings for administrative records, meaning they were unknowingly preserved.

Prof Tamara Atkin, a book historian from the University of Oxford, said the discovery "transforms what we can now say about Guernsey's medieval manuscript culture".