The Libraries

On incorporation at 1st January 2014 the Lord Crewe's Charity set up a separate linked charity, the Librariies and Archives Trust, to hold ownership of the three librarues belongiong to the Charity and its archives deposited at the Northumberland County Records Office at Woodhorn.

The three libraries comprise:

The two Sharp Libraries are based at Durham Cathedral Library and the North East Religious Learning Resources Centre (RRC) at Church House, North Shields. These are lending libraries of modern theology, open to all clergy, ordinands, theology students and other diocesan readers.

Both collections have online catalogues:

The RRC catalogue (which includes other collections as well as the Sharp Library and also the collection at the RRC's second site in Carter House, Durham) can be accessed here.

The Durham Sharp library catalogue can be accessed here (this is part of the Durham University Library catalogue). Items in the Sharp Library can be identified by searching by the location "Cathedral" or shelfmarks beginning "SharpLib".

The Bamburgh Library is an historic collection which has its origins in the holdings of the Sharp family. These were partly sold to and partly gifted to the Trustees by Archdeacon Sharp (John Sharp III) in the late eighteenth century. It operated as a public lending library in Bamburgh Castle, even after the sale of the castle to Lord Armstrong. In 1958 it was moved to Durham. It includes notable collections of early science, history and anti-slavery literature, with volumes from the 17th Century onwards and a number of medieval manuscripts, deposited with the Special Collections of Durham University Library. A further collection of printed and manuscript music is held in Durham Cathedral Library.

The two sections of the Bamburgh Library are open for consultation at:

Books - Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections, Palace Green Library, Palace Green, Durham DH1 3RN

T 0191 334 2932  Fax 0191 334 2942 e-mail pg.library@durham.ac.uk

The Bamburgh Library at Palace Green is housed along with Bishop Cosin's Library in the 15th Century Exchequer Building, which is undergoing a major building conservation project. As a result there is limited access to the collection which is currently held in the stacks. It is hoped the two collections will be open again to the public in Autumn 2020, though until the builders have taken the roof off the building this scedule cannot be confirmed and is subject to change.

The Bamburgh Library collection can be searched using the Durham University Library online catalogue here.

Music - The Cathedral Library, The College, Durham DH1 3EH

T 0191 386 2489 e-mail library@durhamcathedral.co.uk

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