THE HURD LIBRARY

The Hurd Library was built in 1782 by Richard Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, for his very fine collection of books. It has been preserved ever since and many consider it one of the most beautiful library rooms in the country. Find out more about some of the collection in the historical Hurd Library Blog.

The Hurd Library is an outstanding survival of the Age of Enlightenment. Founded in 1782 by Richard Hurd, Bishop of Worcester from 1781 to 1808, it is the only example of an Anglican bishop’s library remaining on its original shelves in the room built for it. It contains books from the libraries of four 18^th century book collectors – Hurd himself, his friend and mentor, William Warburton (Bishop of Gloucester from 1760 to 1779) and Warburton’s two friends, the poet Alexander Pope and the entrepreneur and philanthropist, Ralph Allen of Bath. The range of these men’s interests is reflected in the extraordinary variety of the library’s contents.

There is something for everyone: theology of course, but also history, literature, botany, science, medicine, topography and much more. Children, who are welcomed in small groups, are enchanted by engravings of birds such as the extinct dodo or finding where they live on an 18^th century map; botanists can study the magnificent coloured plates of flowers in Curtis’s Flora Londinensis; students of Alexander Pope can pore over the annotations he made in his 1611 copy of Edmund Spenser’s works; historians and literary researchers of the 18^th century can find rich material in the large collection of letters to and from Hurd, as well as in the comments and opinions that he wrote in his commonplace books from 1744 until his death. The room itself is also stunning, invariably extracting a “Wow!” when seen for the first time.

Visitors are welcomed as researchers and interested groups, and the Volunteer Librarians are always pleased to receive individual enquiries, both general and academic. The library’s email address is hurdlibrary@hartleburycastle.com.

Private group visits of up to 30 people can be booked for a library talk and tour. For more information, visit our Group Visit page or contact Chantel Summerfield on events@hartleburycastle.com. We also occasionally run public group tours – please keep an eye on our What’s On page for future dates.

General visitors can see into the library through its the glass door every day* – it is not open to members of the public without a tour due to fragility of the collection. The Hurd Library Interpretation Room offers the opportunity to delve further into the history of the library and see images of some of its rare and beautiful books.

*Subject to Library useage – please contact the Castle to confirm before your visit.