A new publication of a very old survey has been published by a Dorset charity.

The Dorset Record Society published historic tests, transcribed and translated into modern English to make them available to a wide audience.

The launch of the latest publication - Treswell's Survey - took place at Corfe Castle village hall earlier this month.

The manuscript volume of Treswell's Survey of Dorset is kept with the rest of the Bankes family archive at the Dorset History Centre. It contains maps Corfe, Langton Matravers, Studland and Middlebere and Newton Heaths as well as a detailed plan of Corfe Castle at almost its latest stage of development.

The authors gave short talks and a copy of the volume was presented to Claire Forbes of the National Trust, owners of the manuscript.

The Dorset Record Society volume reproduces the entire volume as a facsimile together with a transcription and translation of the written survey which accompanies the maps.

Treswell's text contains some small sections of rather peculiar sixteenth century Latin, dialect words and technical terms that have passed out of modern use.

This volume makes an edited version of the text, transcribed and translated, available to the widest possible audience of schools, universities, local and family historians, and students wanting to improve their palaeography (old handwriting) skills.

Mark Forrest from the Dorset Record Society said: “The Treswell survey has been studied by local historians, archaeologists and map enthusiasts for years so it is great to have an edition available for everyone to use. I was really pleased to get Rose, Jenny and Martin to agree to be co-editors and write sections for the introduction.

"They are national experts and we have all learnt a lot from each other in the process of bringing this book together.”

Mr Forrest explained that there are several volumes in progress at the society.

These include a seventeenth century will and inventories, which detail the bequests of ordinary people on the eve of the Civil War, the medieval churchwardens’ accounts of Wimborne Minster, sixteenth century customs duties for Poole, Lyme Regis and Weymouth and a re-issue of the popular Witchcraft and Sorcery with some additional material.