Gladstone Library, Hawarden

My second library visit was a pleasant surprise. Although I live only an hour and a half away from the library (I live in the countryside, so anything up to 3 hours away is regarded as close) I had never heard of it. It’s surprising actually, because the building has so much history, and its a wonderful place that more people should know about!

Originally called St Deiniol’s library, it changed its name to the Gladstone library in 2009 to commemorate Prime Minister William Gladstone’s bicentenary, who was the founder of the library. Gladstone had a large book collection, and wanted them all in the same place so he erected an iron building to house them. This building came to be known as the ‘tin tabernacle’, and Gladstone, by this time a man in his 80s, transported the 30,000 books from Hawarden Castle himself, with the aid of his daughter, a valet and a wheelbarrow. The building that stands in its place now was built after Gladstone’s death in 1898 as a permanent place to house his book collection.

We arrived on a sunny but snowy day, and it couldn’t have been more picturesque. The library is tucked away in the town of Hawarden, north wales, like a well kept secret. Although it’s located just behind one of the town’s principal streets, it feels completely isolated, and would be the ideal setting for a weekend retreat! We were greeted by Annette, who took us on a tour of the building, and told us all about its history.

The library is only one part of the building. Before going into the reading room itself, we saw an airy, light common room filled with sofas and featuring a large fireplace. Gladstone library run various creative writing events and workshops for the public, and they welcome people to stay there. The whole building is full of light, as if its designed for you to be able to read in its every corner.

We then went through the reading room, which is the main library, to the back of the building, where they have the stacks. This long corridor with its old stone arches is full of dusty, beautifully bound books, and right at the back is a wall of boxes filled with Gladstone’s collection of pamphlets. Gladstone’s book collection has now grown to 250,000 books, and is still growing. The library consists of mostly theology books, and its newest addition is a room dedicated to Islam. All books are still classified according to Gladstone’s own system.

Our last stop of the tour was the reading room, and I have to say, it’s the quaintest, sweetest library I have seen. The woodwork is beautiful, and the large windows the end of the room light up the whole area. Gladstone designed his own bookshelves to have even more shelves on the ends of the original shelves, and this design is still used today. It’s a wonderful design that covers all the walls in books and is quite awe-inspiring. Oh how I wish this was my local library, so that I could hunch up in a corner, surrounded by books and light.

I didn’t want to leave the reading room, I wanted to stay there forever. It was magical. But we had to leave in the end, so to fill the hole that the reading room had just created within me, we went to the new cafe that’s part of the library and had the biggest, tastiest chocolate cake ever.

Gladstone library was a wonderful discovery, and I still can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it sooner. For any budding writers or researchers that want a perfect getaway, inspiration, or cake, I’d highly recommend this library, or even for those just interested in books or history, or who just want a nice day out. I already want to go back there and sit amongst the books again.

Library Rating

Dustyness: 4/5 ( there wasn’t actually any dust in sight, it was spotless, but it looked like somewhere that should be dusty)

Beauty-and-the-Beast-ness: 3/5 ( I’d say it was a cross between the Beast’s library and the quaint little bookshop at the beginning of the film)

Jaw-Dropping-ness: 3/5

Quaintness: 5/5