A treasure trove of documents charting 850 years of Cornish history, ranging from an elaborate Elizabethan manuscript gifting a nobleman chunks of the county, to recipes for pasties and a spell-busting charm involving hot urine, have been gathered together at a new archive.

Housed in a refurbished brewery, the Kresen Kernow (Cornwall Centre) in Redruth is home to 1.5m records that give an insight into the rich history and culture of the far south-west of Britain.

Much of the material is held on 14 miles of shelving in large storerooms and preservation suites, but exhibition spaces showing some of the most intriguing pieces have been created to encourage people to drop in.

Upstairs in the Mirva Tresoryow (Treasures Gallery) is the manuscript from Elizabeth I – adorned with images of snakes, a strawberry border and letters made up of birds – that hands land over to George Carey, who commanded the Isle of Wight’s defences when under threat from the Spanish Armada.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The archive is based in a former brewery in Redruth. Photograph: Kresen Kernow

In the same dimly lit room is a Cornish language dictionary compiled in the mid-18th century by William Borlase, the rector of the village of Ludgvan, near Penzance. The growing revival of the Cornish language has led Kresen Kernow to adopt a “Cornish first” approach to its signs. Many are musical in tone – such as lyverva (library) and kornel kosel (quiet corner) – although the Cornish for archive is a little less sweet to the English ear – argh.

Documents on display downstairs include insights into authors famed for their Cornish connections, such as Daphne du Maurier and Winston Graham, the latter having written the Poldark books.

There are papers that tell some of the inside stories of Cornwall’s industrial heritage, including a letter describing the reaction of the Cornish steam locomotive pioneer Richard Trevithick when he found out competitors were taking legal action against him. The Birmingham engineer Matthew Boulton wrote that Trevithick was in a “publick [sic] house” when an injunction was served on him and adds: “He seemed much aggitated [sic] and vexed.”

Another yellowing document makes a reference to the pirate Henry Avery (also known as Every), who in 1695 raided the 25-strong convoy of Grand Mughal vessels making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. It claims that after the raid he buried “three chests or boxes full of treasure” in the sands of the Lizard peninsula in south Cornwall.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The centre brings together documents previously held at two centres and numerous out-stores. Photograph: Kresen Kernow

The centre will open to the public on Saturday with a community day to coincide with the annual Redruth mining and pasty festival.

Deborah Tritton, the centre’s project lead, said visitors of all ages and interests would be welcome. “It’s a lovely resource in a beautiful building.”

She said Kresen Kernow had brought together documents held at two previous centres and numerous out-stores. As well as the eye-catching “treasures” on display it holds hundreds of years of parish registers, tithe maps, business records and photographs in its backrooms that will be pored over by historians and genealogy researchers.

On the decision to prioritise Cornish on the signs, Tritton said: “We wanted to give it a status and acknowledge its importance in our heritage. It is usually presented as a secondary language, in grey and italics beneath the English.”

Among Tritton’s favourite documents is the spell-busting charm. It appears to have been written for a man called Thomas Leverton, who was clearly the target of some sort of supernatural attack.

The suggested solution involves a witch bottle – a counter-magical device – that had to be filled with a piping hot “pint of your owne [sic] urine”. Follow the instructions and “your private enemies will never after have any power upon you”, the document says.