Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Unesco status helps unlock £800,000 for research into historic city records

City archivist Phil Astley. Picture by Heather Fowlie
City archivist Phil Astley. Picture by Heather Fowlie

Historic documents detailing life in Aberdeen as far back as the 14th century have helped to unlock more than £800,000 for north-east researchers.

The Aberdeen Burgh Registers contain files from 1398 to 1511 and are the oldest and most complete records of any Scottish settlement.

Housed securely in the Town House and Old Aberdeen House, the eight volumes of information offer an insight into what life in the area was like in centuries gone by.

While the documents are available to the public in dedicated search rooms, they are also available online after teams painstakingly transcribed the 1.5 million words they contain.

The tomes, written in Latin and Old Scots, were recognised by Unesco in 2013 as some of the country’s most treasured documents.

And they have been listed in a new report by the UK National Commission, which found that achieving this status has unlocked millions of pounds in potential funding for organisations across the country.

Historical documents reveal Aberdeen may have been homeplace of Scotch whisky

Since it was recognised by the body in 2013, more than £800,000 has been made available to researchers using the Aberdeen Burgh Registers to delve into the area’s past.

City archivist Phil Astley said: “Recognition of the Aberdeen Burgh Registers by Unesco in 2013 has been a huge boost for the archive service, not only raising our profile regionally and nationally but, in partnership with Aberdeen University, it has enabled us to unlock over £800,000 of research funding during this period.”

Marie Boulton, the city council’s culture spokeswoman, said: “The report highlights the social, cultural and economic benefits of Unesco destinations in the UK.

“We are very fortunate to be one such destination thanks to Aberdeen’s Burgh Records, which are the most complete in Scotland and go back as far as the 14th century and run to more words than the complete works of Shakespeare.

“The Burgh Records provide a fascinating insight into times past to reveal the social, economic and cultural matters throughout the centuries.”

Fascinating characters contained in Aberdeen’s medieval Burgh Records could inspire video gaming industry

Colin McInnes, chairman of the UK National Commission for Unesco said: “This report marks the 75th anniversary of Unesco’s founding in the UK.

“The UK co-founded the organisation to help build the structures to create a better world after the carnage of the Second World War. Seventy-five years later we find ourselves again in crisis.

“This report highlights the economic and social value of Unesco projects to communities across the UK, and which will need significant investment as the economy recovers.”