What can I find in the Cathedrals and Church Buildings Library?
i. Overview
The Cathedrals and Church Buildings Library is a further collection within the central church bodies alongside Lambeth Palace Library and the Church of England Record Centre, and is located at Church House, Westminster.
The Library houses books and other material dedicated solely to ecclesiastical architecture, art, design and liturgy and is a unique research tool for readers interested in those areas. As well as over 13,000 books, the collection includes detailed files on 16,000 parish churches, many containing guidebooks, postcards and photographs; copies of the records of the contents of over 1,500 individual churches compiled by the NADFAS Church Recorders; and extensive photographic collections.
It is a shared resource of the Church Buildings Council and the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England.
Address
Church House
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3AZ
ii. Contact Details
Telephone: (020) 7898 1884
Email: enquiries.ccb@c-of-e.org.uk
Website: www.cofe.anglican.org
Open: Access to CCB material is via appointment only (see ‘Access’ for more details), Tues & Weds.
Map from http://getamap.ordancesurvey.co.uk
iii. Access
Access to collections can be arranged via the honorary Librarian. The library is usually open to visitors on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but by appointment only.
iv. Catalogue
Unfortunately there is no online catalogue to the collections, but a detailed card index does exist to the book collection and the library staff are able to research other areas of the collections on behalf of users.
v. Further Information on Collections
a) Church files.
The Library holds survey files on all Church of England Churches (including closed churches) and also has a complete set of NADFAS church survey files. Together these provide a unique resource on churches across the country.
b) Postcards and Photographs
The Library holds extensive collections of photographs and postcards illustrating both interiors and exteriors of churches across the country spanning much of the 20th Century. While not catalogued or indexed, many of the collections are arranged geographically so are accessible to researchers.
