Lambeth Palace Library
Lambeth Palace Library is the historic library of the Archbishops of Canterbury and the principal library and record office for the history of the Church of England. Founded in 1610, it is situated within the grounds of the Palace and its collections are freely available for research.
The official papers of the Archbishops of Canterbury are among the Library's most significant collections, documenting political and social issues as well as ecclesiastical history in Great Britain and more generally throughout the Anglican Communion. Apart from correspondence the papers include diaries, sermons and newspaper cuttings. They are made available following a thirty year closure period.
The Library's overall focus is on ecclesiastical history, but its rich collections are important for an immense variety of topics, such as architecture, colonial history, local history and genealogy. The Library contains over 4,600 manuscripts and immense quantities of archives, dating from the ninth century to the present, amongst which are some 600 medieval manuscripts.
Printed books in the Library number almost 200,000, including some 30,000 items printed before 1700. Many are unique, or are distinguished by their provenance or by special bindings. In 1996, the Library's holdings were augmented by the transfer from Sion College Library of c.35,000 printed books published before 1850, together with the Sion College collection of manuscripts.
To find out more about the Library, visit the dedicated website.