Lambeth Palace Library

 

Lambeth Palace Library

Lambeth Palace Library holds one of the archives that I have long known about but never visited. It has the survey of the clergy of Essex in 1604 in its possession as well as the papers of the Bramston family of Skreens in Roxwell. Partly because copies of both are available in the Essex Record Office in Chelmsford, I have never felt the temptation to go to Lambeth Palace to visit its library. This morning, however, prompted by a reference generously supplied by a long-standing friend, I went to its on-line catalogue and was greatly surprised to see how rich its collection of sixteenth and seventeenth-century manuscripts actually is. These resources are not just to do with church affairs or ecclesiastical administration and appointments but also cover secular matters – high politics, county and more local issues, doctrinal and intellectual disputes and much more. I regret that I had not realised this before. The revelation has made me determined to visit this library as soon as the current pandemic is over. I look forward to it.

                                                                                                                                              4th October, 2020

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