Everyone has their own idea of what heaven looks like. For me, it would be an eternity in a library. Somewhere with floor to ceiling books to read forever…and I found it!
In the Welsh town of Hawarden, in Flintshire, I recently spent two days of solitude, reflection and research in a beautiful setting, and it was powerful medicine.
The fact that you can stay here made it an attractive proposition for a short break. You can join as a reader to use the library itself, but the fact that you can get up in the morning and head down for a day of research was too tempting, so a booking was made!
On their website, the library states that:
Gladstone's Library has been recognised as the most important research library and collection in Wales after the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. It boasts an outstanding collection of more than 250,000 books, journals and pamphlets on a wide range of subjects but specialising in our core subject areas of Theology and Victorian Studies. This unique collection is kept up-to-date with the latest publications which readers can browse on the open shelves.
The history of the library was itself fascinating. British Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898), stalwart of the Victorian era, gave his own collection over to the nation. Gladstone truly believed in the power of books and his collection had grown to encompass all manner of topic, much of a religious nature. His daughter, Mary Drew said of her father that he was "Often pondering, how to bring together readers who had no books and books who had no readers, gradually the thought evolved itself in his mind into a plan for the permanent disposal of his library. A country home for the purposes of study and research, for the pursuit of divine learning, a centre of religious life."
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Living in nearby Hawardan Castle, it made sense for the library to be transferred locally and in 1889, two large iron rooms with smaller study rooms enclosed were erected. Gladstone himself, helped to transfer the books and papers, often by wheelbarrow! An endowment of £40,000 was made so that after his death in 1898, this, alongside a public appeal for funds meant that the current building, designed by John Douglas was opened as a memorial to W. E. Gladstone, in October 1902. By 1906, an additional wing had been added, courtesy of the Gladstone Library to fulfil Gladstone’s wish for people to live and work in the presence of knowledge.
After a relaxing evening, sitting in the readers’ lounge, I had a comfortable night in preparation for a full day in the library doing research on an artist I am writing about.
Walking into the Theology Room (pictured at top of article) was quite an experience. The silence is palpable and the delicious smell of books fills the air. With so many windows, the whole room was filled with early morning sunlight. I headed up the narrow staircase to find myself a desk and set up for the day.
How I got any work done with this view is testament to the atmosphere of study that you find here. Gladstone certainly kept an eye on procedings from across the balcony. The vaulted ceiling was something to behold and, with the sun on my back, I hit the books.
The old habits of my university days were still with me. I made a list from the catalogue of the books I wanted and headed to the annex where they were all situated. It was the first time I was confronted with library stacks, as opposed to shelves, and I so enjoyed the sensation of moving each stack along to get to my prize!
Books in arm, a notepad and, for today’s modern student, a laptop, I set to work. The hours passed so quickly and, with a quick coffee and scones break in the middle, I worked on until 4.30.
Just for a few days, I had an experience of heaven and would recommend the peace and quiet that the library offers.
For more information, visit Gladstone’s Library’s website at: https://www.gladstoneslibrary.org/
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Wendy is based in the UK and is an English teacher but with industrial tendencies and a particular love of the ‘isms’ that formed in the 1910s! She writes her own art blog: Travels with my Art: exploring art: one gallery, one artist, one country at a time!