A RARE and important Medieval document has been saved for the region after a successful public appeal for funds.

The 13th Century collection of religious texts has been in private collections in Yorkshire for most of the past 700 years.

Now it has been bought by the York Minster Archives for almost £100,000, and will be publicly available as part of their collection.

The price was beyond the normal purchase budget of the Dean and Chapter, so the funds had to be raised in three months to avoid the document going back into private hands.

Help came from V and A Purchase Grant Fund and the Friends of the National Libraries, who gave over £60,000. More than £37,000 was also raised locally from local trusts and private individuals.

"The chance to acquire a manuscript like this and bring it home comes very seldom," said Minster archivist Louise Hampson.

"We simply don't have the funds to buy things like this, so we decided to launch an appeal, which has been very successful. We are very grateful to everyone who helped."

The manuscript will go on display at the Minster Library and Archives from November 20 for two weeks. It will then join the manuscript collections held by the Minster archives.