Deep spectroscopy of distant 3CR radio galaxies: the data

Deep long-slit spectroscopic data are presented for a sample of 14 3CR radi o galaxies at redshift z similar to 1, previously studied in detail using t he Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Array, and the UK Infrared Telesc ope (UKIRT). Analysis of the [O II] 3727 emission-line structures at simila r to 5 Angstrom spectral resolution is carried out to derive the kinematic properties of the emission-line gas. In line with previous lower resolution studies, a wide variety of kinematics are seen, from gas consistent with a mean rotational motion through to complex structures with velocity dispers ions exceeding 1000 km s(-1). The data confirm the presence of a high-veloc ity gas component in 3C 265 and detached emission-line systems in 3C 356 an d 3C 441, and show for the first time that the emission-line gas in the cen tral regions of 3C 324 is composed of two kinematically distinct components . Emission-line fluxes and the colour of the continuum emission are determi ned down to unprecedentedly low observed wavelengths, lambda < 3500 Angstro m, sufficiently short that any contribution of an evolved stellar populatio n is negligible. An accompanying paper investigates the variation in the em ission-line ratios and velocity structures within the sample, and draws con clusions as to the origin of the ionization and kinematics of these galaxie s.