Hereford Cathedral Library
The Chained Library at Hereford Cathedral
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| Country | United Kingdom |
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| Type | Christian library |
| Scope | Historical books |
| Established | 1611 |
| Location | Hereford |
| Coordinates | 52°03′15″N 2°42′57″W / 52.054219°N 2.715898°WCoordinates: 52°03′15″N 2°42′57″W / 52.054219°N 2.715898°W |
| Website | herefordcathedral.org |
Hereford Cathedral Library is a working theological lending and reference library located in Hereford Cathedral, Hereford, England; it also holds books and manuscripts of major importance to the history of the county of Herefordshire. Hereford Cathedral Library is also well known for its chained books as it is the only library of this type to survive with all of the chains, rods and locks still intact.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, in 1582, a commission investigating the cathedral found that the collection, gathered since the 12th century, was poorly organised and poorly kept. In 1590 the whole library was moved to the Lady Chapel, and in 1611 the Chained Library (with books in manuscript chained to their places) was established by Thomas Thornton. Thornton, who was canon of Hereford from 1583 onwards and vice-chancellor of Oxford University in 1583 and 1599, was the first to chain books in the library.William Brewster bequeathed the collection to St John's College, Oxford. Many books were added in the 17th century and in 1678 the collection from the Jesuit College at Cwm, Llanrothal, Wales, joined the library when the college was shut down following the invasion by John Arnold of Monmouthshire.
In the 1840s, the cathedral underwent considerable restoration work and the books and shelves had to be removed from the Lady Chapel. It was split between the North Transept and the Victorian Dean Leigh Library. In 1854, Francis Tebbs Havergal was appointed deputy librarian and he greatly improved the library and paid attention to details such as the room temperature and cleanliness. B. F. Streeter was responsible for a major change in the organisation of the library as were librarians such as Langton E. Brown and Maude Bull from 1897 onwards; Bull worked in the library for over fifty years until her death in 1951. For years, the notable scholar, Canon William Wolfe Capes (1834–1914), sorted records within the library; he printed a volume containing early records, presenting it to the members of the Cantilupe Society. Also important in the library's history were Frederick Charles Morgan (died 1978, aged 100) and his daughter Penelope (1976–90). F. C. Morgan supervised the cataloguing project of 1927 onwards, following a donation by the Dean Leigh Fund. His nephew Paul was succeeded as honorary librarian by Penelope Morgan who remained in the post until 1989.
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