History

Detail showing a man hanging, from a fourteenth-century depiction of a king ordering an execution (MS O.VIII.7 f.47)

Lending
The first record of loans from the Library dates from 1796; as might be expected in a chained library, loans were limited. Books continued to be chained at Hereford well into the first half of the 19th century, long after the practice had been discontinued elsewhere. In 1841 however the chaining of new books finally came to an end, when major restoration work to the Lady chapel necessitated the removal of the bookcases. The books were temporarily stored in upper rooms in the vicars choral cloister before they were moved to their new home in the muniment room over the north transept in 1855. By now they were under the care of Francis Tebbs Havergal, a vicar choral who was appointed deputy librarian in 1854. It is thanks to him that the Chained Library has survived in its present form. He recovered and reassembled as much of the dismantled bookcases as he could, and cared for the books with diligence and an understanding far ahead of his time.

By the end of the 19th century interest in the Library was again revived, as not only a repository for books of historical interest but also as a place of theological study for the diocese. A more accessible building than the transept room was required, and this was provided in 1897 by means of a legacy from Canon W.F. Powell, but chiefly through the enthusiasm of James Wentworth Leigh, dean 1894-19, whose name the building bears. The upper floor housed the historic books in their (imperfectly) reassembled cases, while the lower floor, together with part of the adjoining south-west cloister, held the rapidly growing modern library and reading room. Henceforward the Library would have regular opening hours, an annual subscription for borrowers, and the attendance of devoted voluntary or honorary professional and non-professional staff. Prominent among the staff in the 20th century were F.C. and Penelope Morgan, father and daughter, both Hereford city librarians at various times, and honorary librarians of the cathedral jointly or separately from 1925 to 1989. Their work in developing professional standards for all areas of the Library's work, in cataloguing, indexing, conservation, interpretation and promoting the status of the Library in both the cathedral and the wider world, is still an indispensable legacy.

But the most important event in the history of the Library in the first part of the 20th century was the restoration of the Chained Library between 1929 and 1931 by Canon B.H. Streeter, who, having studied the history of chained libraries, and having rediscovered parts of the dismantled cases in various parts of the cathedral, reconstructed the 17th century bookcases in their original form, with the desks properly attached, the benches in place, and the books chained in their correct places according to the 18th century catalogues. As a result, the cases would no longer fit into the upper room of the Dean Leigh Library, and the greater part of them were returned to the now restored muniment room over the north transept, where it was available to be viewed by visitors, while the Library for readers remained in the Dean Leigh Library and south cloister. This arrangement continued until 1996.

During the Second World War the medieval manuscripts and Mappa Mundi were removed for safekeeping, returning in 1946. In 1955 the lower Dean Leigh Library was converted into a muniment room to receive the archives; since then the archives have been managed as part of the Library department of the cathedral. In 1978 the Library Advisory Committee was established and the library endowment fund inaugurated, making financial provision for professional staff: the first full-time paid librarian was appointed in 1990. By this time the Mappa Mundi Trust had come into being, and the ownership of the historic parts of the Library transferred to it. The ideal of a new library building, in which the whole Chained Library could at last be brought together again in its original arrangement (thus completing the work of Canon Streeter) was first expressed by Canon John Tiller, Master of the Library 1984–2002, at an advisory committee meeting in 1987. One of the functions of the Mappa Mundi Trust was to fulfil this ambition. Thanks to a gift from the late Sir Paul Getty, and an endowment from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the New Library Building, designed by Whitfield Partners and built by Treasures of Ludlow, was erected to the south west of the cathedral, adjacent to the Dean Leigh Library, and thus close to the site of the earliest medieval library. It was opened by the Queen on 3 May 1996, and has since won a number of awards, notably that of Building of the Year from the Royal Fine Art Commission in 1997. It has enabled all parts of the Library to be managed together in one place, in conditions of comfort, controlled climate and high security for readers and visitors as well as for the books and documents. It has also enhanced the Library's tradition of serving the educational aspects of the cathedral's witness, in which capacity we hope that the Library will continue to develop and expand into the 21st century and beyond.

Extracted from 'Hereford Cathedral: A History', edited by Gerald Aylmer and John Tiller, London, The Hambledon Press, 2000; Chapter 28, 'The Library', Joan Williams.