Francis Trigge Chained Library, Medieval library in St Wulfram's Church, Grantham, England
The Francis Trigge Chained Library is a chained library inside St. Wulfram's Church in Grantham, Lincolnshire, holding several hundred books and manuscripts from the 15th to 17th centuries. Each book is attached by a metal chain to a long wooden shelf, allowing it to be read in place but not carried away.
In the late 1500s, a clergyman named Francis Trigge donated his personal book collection to the town of Grantham, founding one of the earliest public libraries in England. The books were housed in a room attached to St. Wulfram's Church, where much of the collection still remains today.
Many of the books deal with theology and scripture, reflecting what educated people in a small English market town were reading in the 1500s and 1600s. The chains still attached to the shelves give a very concrete sense of how precious printed books were at that time.
The library is open on a seasonal basis, generally from spring through autumn, and a visit often needs to be arranged in advance. Since access depends on volunteer staff, it is worth checking before making the trip.
Some of the volumes were printed in Venice long before printing was common in England, pointing to early connections between English scholars and continental printing centers. These Venetian printed books are among the oldest objects in the collection and can still be seen there today.
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