Hereford Cathedral Library and Archives are housed in the New Library Building, the entrance to which is in Palace Yard, between the west end of the cathedral and the entrance to the Bishop’s Palace, adjacent to the north end of Gwynne Street. Please press the CALL button to the left of the door. Once you are inside the building, the reading room is on the second floor, accessible by stairs or lift. All areas are accessible to wheelchair users.

Opening times

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10 am – 4 pm
First Saturday in the month 10 am – 1 pm

Other times by appointment.

Reading room

The reading room is freely available to anyone during opening hours for private study and consultation of modern collections and finding aids. It is equipped for the use of personal computers, and has a microfilm reader, photocopying facilities, and photographic service.

Historic collections

The historic collections consist of all the medieval manuscript books, early printed (pre-1801) books, some 19th-century works, manuscript and printed music, as well as prints, drawings and photographic materials. Requests to consult historic material must be made well in advance.

Archives

The cathedral archives consist of the records of the Dean & Chapter documenting the history of the cathedral and its considerable property throughout the county from the early Middle Ages until the present day. The collection includes title deeds, manorial and ecclesiastical court records, minutes, accounts, maps, architectural drawings and personal papers.

NB The Library does not hold archives of the Bishop, which are available with the other diocesan records at Herefordshire County Record Office.

Modern collections

The modern reading room houses the modern lending and reference library. It is mainly theological, but also rich in local history, general and church history, biography, decorative arts, architecture and music. Membership of the library is free and members can borrow six books for up to two months from the lending library.

New Books are regularly added to stock. The Library has a small budget for the purchase of new books and is fortunate to have supporters who regularly donate material.

Catalogues

The catalogue of the medieval manuscript books is available in print as Catalogue of the Manuscripts of Hereford Cathedral Library by R A B Mynors and R M Thomson (Cambridge, D S Brewer, 1993).

Printed works can be found on the online catalogue.

This catalogue contains most of the books printed after 1850. We are currently cataloging all those works printed before this date, and the records are being updated regularly.

The archive catalogue is not yet available online, but can be accessed in person in the reading room.

Contact us

For further information, please contact:

Hereford Cathedral Library and Archives
Hereford Cathedral
5 College Cloisters
Cathedral Close
Hereford
HR1 2NG

Tel 01432 374225/6

Fax 01432 374220

[email protected]