THE MYSTERY surrounding the whereabouts and contents of an ancient charter for Petersfield is being unravelled.
A hunt for the 12th century document was launched by Petersfield Town Council as it took the decision to change the date this year of the centuries-old Taro Fair.
The authority wanted to find out exactly what the charter decreed about the fair and now local historian David Jeffrey has come forward with exciting news.
He says the original charter was lost, but a substitute was produced later on in the 12th century and it is now held at Hampshire Record?Office. David and Petersfield’s deputy mayor Cllr James Deane will now get the charter translated. “It looks to me like a mixture of Latin, French and Middle English,” said Cllr Deane.