Parchment is very sensitive to water and moisture. It will cockle and shrink if exposed to water or moisture and then allowed to dry without tensioning. If parchment is water damaged, re-flattening this hygroscopic and reactive material becomes a problem. In general, flattening parchment is done by introducing moisture in order to relax it and then drying it under tension. The First part of this paper describes the examination and treatment of a four page, water damaged patent document (three pages of which are parchment). The second part discusses a research project comparing various tensioning techniques for the flattening of parchment.