Tag Archives: Lambeth Palace Library

Women’s Books at Lambeth Palace Library

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Located at the very pinnacle of the Runoff catchment area, you might not know about the nine storey Lambeth Palace Library. In fact, you’re probably thinking ‘SAY WHAT, there’s a nine storey library in Greater Kennington?!’ The massive structure opened in 2021 in a pocket of Archbishop’s park and is a victory of understatement (a bit like us). While it’s a research library primarily, they allow access to us pesky Greater Kenningtonians when they have an exhibit  and is now an establish part of the Kennington cultural scene (it’s a thing). 

‘Her booke’ Early Modern Women and their Books at Lambeth Palace Library  is the petite yet perfectly formed exhibit currently on in the exhibition room.  Focussing on a time when female erudition was viewed with suspicion, this exhibition highlights material owned, written, commissioned, and translated by women from the 15th to early 19th centuries. It celebrates the ways in which women and their books were an integral part of England’s devotional, intellectual, and bibliographical cultures. Insightful little sections outline the production and use of books for personal and spiritual practices; books as a statement of power and piety; books as a site to demonstrate women’s intellectual ability; and the material evidence of women’s book ownership.


Items on display in this almost complete dark but still legible exhibit include correspondence from a future Archbishop of Canterbury about Jane Austen; first editions of the works of Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Shelley including a first edition of Frankenstein which we naughtily photographed, and books translated for Elizabeth I.  They’re displayed alongside other works related to known and unknown women from the collection (not all religious). And if you can’t get enough there are a selection of free talks about women and books  that  can be booked on the website. 

‘Her booke’ Early Modern Women and their Books at Lambeth Palace Library is on now until 21 November and is totally free. Entering the building is a bit daunting as you need to get buzzed in, but just say you’re going to the exhibit and the guards will merrily show you the way. And don’t miss the quiet lily pond studded lake when you walk up the stairs. And you can have some random fun by scoring some King Charles honey in reception. 

Lambeth Palace Library

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Located at the very pinnacle of the Runoff catchment area, you might not know about Lambeth Palace Library. You’re probably thinking ‘say WHAT, there’s a nine storey library in Greater Kennington’ and you can be forgiven for the oversight. The massive structure has been carved out of just 3% of the archbishop’s garden and lies next to Archbishop’s Park, although it’s easy to miss. The structure is a victory of understatement with ponds and tweedy looking brick crosses. This belies the gravity of a building created as a protector of manuscripts and designed as a fortress against the pesky factors that threaten them such as light, water, and Greater Kennoingtonians. However, it is also a museum with rotating exhibits and the current offering is the fascinating and free ‘From Popish Plot to Civil Rights: Themes in Religious Archives’.

The current pop up exhibition highlights a range of subjects covered by the Library’s diverse collections of religious archives. To mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee, items on display relate to her coronation in 1953. Other material relates to the Church and other denominations and faiths, with exhibits illustrating relations with Roman Catholicism, such as the anti-Catholic agitator Titus Oates. Items on Jewish history include Hebrew manuscripts. A further theme covers the Church and race, including material relating to the civil rights movement, and to the first British Black Bishop, Wilfred Wood.

The areas open to the public are very small, and in fact the current exhibit only extends to four glass cases on the first floor. But fear not, as there are fun interactive boards on the ground floor. Also,  with a bit of planning you can nab tickets on a free tour. Failing that, the reading room is available if you obtain a free pass in advance. And failing that, the Lambeth Palace website is a handy and interesting resource. We were particularly interested in learning more about the ‘London Apocalypse’ but saddened to learn that it does not, in fact, relate to Vauxhall at 6am of a Sunday when the nightclubs have just closed. 

Lambeth Palace Library

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Located at the very pinnacle of the Runoff catchment area, today finally witnessed the opening of  Lambeth Palace Library. Now you might be thinking ‘say WHAT, a nine storey library has just opened in Greater Kennington’ and you can be forgiven for the oversight. The massive structure has been carved out of just 3% of the archbishop’s garden and lies next to Archbishop’s Park, although it’s easy to miss. The structure is a victory of understatement with ponds and tweedy looking brick crosses. This belies the gravity of a building created as a protector of manuscripts and designed as a fortress against the pesky factors that threaten them such as light, water, and humans. However, it is also a museum so today we checked it out for you. As The Guardian did nearing completion last year.

Treasures of the Library 1 is a petite, pop up exhibition in vitrines on the first floor and includes an early Gutenberg bible, brilliantly illuminated manuscripts, a letter about the madness of King George, a bible used at the Queen’s coronation, and something called the ‘Lambeth Apocalypse’. Which, as it turns out, does not refer to Sunday mornings outside of nightclubs in Vauxhall.  The interactive displays on the ground floor are very fun and give you a chance to explore the archive in more detail, as does their website. 

This is a small exhibit but one that will expand in the new year. The variety of displays is endless, so something for that pocket diary that we’re always nagging you about. It is open rather inconveniently Monday to Friday 9 to 5. But it’s free, so there you go. The reading room is also available if you have a pass and require more research. Or if you are even more nosey than we are. 

A Strangely Named Street and a New Library

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It’s up to the oldest part of Greater Kennington once again. For some time we’ve noticed a very peculiar street name in Lambeth North parts so we’ve done some digging and this is what we’ve come up with.

Old Paradise Street runs east of Lambeth High Street and is a very rare example of ‘paradise’ being used in a London street. The name conjures up visions of things that now seem exotic and far away, like a palm strewn beach, ordering food in a restaurant, or standing at a bar. In earlier times the word ‘paradise’ was often applied to a great walled garden and was sometimes an indirect reference to a royal property. 

Now that you possess that little nugget of wisdom you might ask, what’s so royal about Lambeth North? Well, long before the Archbishop got his hands on it (we’re talking about 800 years ago), the land around was the location of Lambeth Manor House. In comparison to the farmland and folks around it, the house and gardens were grand indeed and extended far beyond the confines of the current palace. Old Paradise Street therefore was the name given to the thoroughfare that led the approach to the gardens. 

And while we are in that neck of the woods, when the world pivots back into a sphere of semi normality Greater Kennington will have a new, enormous library at it’s disposal! Work has just finished on (who knew) Lambeth Palace Library, just outside the Palace walls. It’s actually more of an archive and museum of treasures from the Palace, and will be a resource for academics and the merely curious. This article from The Guardian does it justice very well. When the gala opening is announced in order to bag an invite we’ll pull the ‘don’t you know we’re Kennington influencers’ card*.  Afterwards we’ll give you a full review.

*This never works