Durham Cathedral Library descends from the library of the monastery founded on Lindisfarne by St Aidan in 635. When the community left Lindisfarne in 875, the monks took with them relics of St Cuthbert, and a number of books. These probably included the famous manuscript now known as the Lindisfarne gospels. The community settled at Chester-le-Street in 883, where it continued to acquire books. In 995 it moved to Durham, where it built the 'White Church' completed in 1017.
The medieval priory library
In 1083 the Bishop of Durham, William of St Calais, founded a Benedictine priory to replace the community of secular clerks which had served the White Church and shrine of St Cuthbert, and in 1093 the foundation stone of the present cathedral was laid. William drew his first monks from the recently re-founded abbeys of Wearmouth and Jarrow. The new priory inherited books from all these predecessors, including 7th and 8th century manuscripts of Northumbrian origin, some of which are still in the Cathedral Library today. The priory gradually amassed a substantial library, including books written in its own scriptorium. Most books were housed in the Spendement off the west cloister, cupboards in the north cloister, and (from the early 15th century) a new library room above the east cloister.
The Cathedral Library after the dissolution of the monastery
After the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, the cathedral was re-founded under a dean and chapter who inherited what survived of the priory's collection of manuscripts and printed books. Further severe losses occurred in the later 16th century, including the Lindisfarne Gospels (now in the British Library; a facsimile is on display in the Cathedral Treasury). Nonetheless, over 300 manuscripts and some 60 printed books from the monastic collection still remain in the Cathedral Library today.
After almost a century of neglect, the library was reformed in the 1620's through the initiative of John Cosin and other canons. During the civil war and Interregnum it suffered less depredation and dispersal than many other cathedral libraries. After the Restoration, the former monastic refectory was restored and fitted out as a library by Dean Sudbury, and the old library room above the east cloister ceased to be used for library purposes. The book collection grew rapidly, both by purchase and gift, and by 1676 the stock had increased to almost 1000 volumes.
The 18th century brought further substantial expansion, with less emphasis on theology and more on antiquities, history, travel, topography, and natural history. In 1742 the library received the important bequest of the music books and scores of Philip Falle, and in 1757 the Dean and Chapter bought the manuscripts (ca. 150 volumes) collected by the local antiquary Dr. Christopher Hunter, including several which had belonged to the medieval priory library.
The Library began to outgrow the Refectory. In 1849-54 the former monastic Dormitory was restored and fitted out as a library. (Looking today at this impressive room with its medieval open timber roof, it is difficult to picture its pre-1854 state. The Dormitory became derelict after the dissolution of the monastery. After the Restoration, a house for one of the canons was constructed in the southern end, while the northern end was used as a covered yard where children played and washing dried). In 1858 the Refectory was 'restored' by Anthony Salvin, who was responsible for the present windows. Between 1823 and the end of the century a number of important additional collections of local antiquaries were acquired (Allan, Longstaffe, Raine, Randall, and Sharp MSS, and, a little later, the Surtees MSS).
20th - 21st centuries
The Library's steady growth has continued, but, as alternative library provision in the region has increased, the range of subjects covered by new acquisitions has been gradually narrowed. Acquisitions are now concentrated on the cathedral itself (history, architecture, liturgy, music), its contents and collections, and the region it serves, and on major reference works and critical studies to set those topics in their wider contexts.
Major new developments in this period:
- 1930s: Durham branch of the Archdeacon Sharp Library located in the Dormitory, to provide a modern theology library for local users.
- 1958: music manuscripts and printed scores from the Bamburgh Castle Library deposited by Lord Crewe's Charity.
- 1990s: Meissen Library (German Protestant theology) established.
- Hughes, H.D., A history of Durham Cathedral Library (Durham, 1925)
- Piper, A.J., 'The libraries of the monks of Durham', in Malcolm Parkes (ed.), Medieval scribes, manuscripts and libraries. Essays presented to N.R. Ker (London, 1978), pp. 213-41
- Mynors, R.A.B., Durham cathedral manuscripts to the end of the 12th century (Oxford, 1939)
- Rud, T., Codicum Mss Ecclesiae Cathedralis Dunelmensis catalogus classicus (Durham, 1825)
- The cathedral libraries catalogue: books printed before 1701 in the libraries of the Anglican cathedrals of England and Wales, 2 vols (London, 1984-98)
- Doyle, A.I., 'The printed books of the last monks of Durham', The Library, 6th ser., 10 (1988), 203-19
- Crosby, Brian, A catalogue of Durham Cathedral music manuscripts (Oxford, 1968)
- Harman, R.A., A catalogue of the printed music at Durham Cathedral (Oxford, 1968)