The Hertfordshire Charter will be displayed at the British Museum alongside the Bayeux Tapestry

The Saxon document, signed by Edward the Confessor, Queen Edith and Earl Harold, is part of the archive collection held by Hertfordshire County Council. But next year it will be loaned to the British Museum, where it will be a part of the landmark Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition.

The planned loan of the document was highlighted at a meeting of the county council by chairman Cllr Sandy Walkington (Liberal Democrat, St Albans South).

And following the meeting, a spokesperson for the county council said: “We are pleased to loan the Hertfordshire Charter from the county archives for this once-in-a-generation exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry.

“We hope Hertfordshire residents, as well as the many thousands who are expected to visit the exhibition, will enjoy these historical artefacts.”

The charter is the oldest document held in the Hertfordshire Archives. And in order to protect it, visitors would usually only see surrogate copies, which include photographs and a transcript.

Next year the original will be displayed at the British Museum. And plans are also being drawn up for a “special replica” that can be shown to school groups and societies booking a tour of the archives, in Hertfordshire.

The Hertfordshire Charter is a record of King Edward the Confessor granting land in Wheathampstead to the convent at Westminster. And it was many of these such endowments – which started in 1050 – that funded the building of Westminster Abbey, which was originally built between around 1050 and 1065.

Commenting on the loan of the document, curator of the Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition Michael Lewis highlights several of those who witnessed the charter as being featured in the tapestry.

“The Wheathampstead Charter, written in Latin and Old English, was issued by Edward the Confessor in 1060,” said Mr Lewis. “It is of particular interest to the exhibition as it names (as witnesses) several individuals that feature in the Bayeux Tapestry.

“Besides King Edward himself, this includes Queen Edith, Earl Harold, Archbishop Stigand and Earl Gyrth; Harold and Gyrth are both shown being killed at the Battle of Hastings.”

• There will also be a chance to see the Hertfordshire Charter and other charters in Hertfordshire on July 30, at Before Bayeux and Beyond: 900 years of Hertfordshire Charters.

The exhibition – said to be “a rare opportunity to view a fascinating and varied range of charters on display together” – will be held at the Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies, in the Register Office Block, on Pegs Lane, Hertford, between 6pm and 8.15pm. Tickets cost £6 for adults, and £3 for under-18s.