HERITAGE
THE OLD LIBRARY, ST JOHN’S COLLEGE
By Tanya Kirk
natural light in a Cambridge November, and it was wisely decided that putting in visible light fittings would ruin it) and, most crucially, there’s no seating to speak of – former students and fellows stood at lecterns to consult the books. But what books they are. The Old Library houses incredible treasures: a tenth-century Irish psalter; a beautifully illuminated prayer book that belonged to the college’s foundress, Lady Margaret Beaufort; the first manual on swimming to be published in Europe (1587); letters written by Audrey Hepburn, Spike Milligan and EM Forster to the designer and photographer Cecil Beaton – as well as artefacts including Wordsworth’s breakfast cup. The OId Library has stood for 400 years, but I am only the tenth person to hold the title of librarian. There is a real weight of responsibility that comes with the custodianship of this magical space and its wonderful collections, and with navigating the challenges of preserving them. The Old Library feels timeless and I hope that it will endure for centuries to come.
I’ve been the librarian at St John’s since 2024, but fell in love with its Old Library years earlier on a visit to the college. It’s a room with tremendous presence, relatively unchanged since it was built in the 1620s. The layout reminds me a little of a historic church, which is not at all surprising as it was funded by the Bishop of Lincoln, a former student. The beautiful dark- oak bookcases, decorated with botanical carvings, run perpendicularly up the room either side of the central aisle, and the far end is a vast oriel window facing west. For 200 years, the room would have been flooded with light from the setting sun. In the 1830s, the college built New Court across the river and some of the light was blocked, but there is a trade- off: an unexpected perspective on the Bridge of Sighs through Of course, this is no longer the college’s student library, and that’s a good thing – the heating is Victorian, the lighting in winter is poor (huge gothic windows can only admit so much the beautifully irregular handmade glass panes.
The Old Library at St John’s College will be hosting a special exhibition on 19 September as part of Open Cambridge 2026. Find out more about the library at joh.cam.ac.uk/research/library/old-library See for yourself
10 SEPTEMBER 2026 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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