Merton College Library, named after Walter de Merton, is the
world's oldest continually used libraries. Opened in the 1370's, it has
continued to provide for students and scholars all over the world. The main
collection contains over 700,000 books, with over 300 medieval manuscripts.
Along with the library, we were also shown around the
chapel. Not much of the chapel was original, as the Reformation took care of
that. Because of that, the college has taken an interest in restoring the
chapel to its former glory. The pews, flooring, windows, and other furniture
have been chosen to replicate what the chapel was like before the Reformation.
An interesting side note is that the organ was from Iowa :p
The library, located in Mob Quad, was built around 1373. The
oldest part of the library still has a large amount of the original
furnishings. The tile of the floor comes from the 12th century, with
faint traces of art still visible. The bookshelves all have benches between
them for the reader to use. Some books are held in place with a few thin pieces
of string.
Merton College Library seemed to have a similar design as
the Bodleian Library. It contained two long columns of shelves, with a path of
tiles between the two columns. One thing I really enjoyed was the stained
glass. Some of the original glass was still left in place, evident by how
yellow some spots were and how faded a few images had become. Along with that,
was the stone tablet. The tablet came from Assyria in the 7
th
century. Even more amazing was the great condition it was in. Everything was
still legible, with little to no chipping on the tablet. It didn’t get to
Merton through good means, but I’m still very happy that it did!
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