University and institute libraries
Access University libraries are not open to the public, but access can usually be arranged on request, given an acceptable reason and an academic letter of introduction. Each library has its own rules.
Collections of art and manuscripts have been donated to many universities and colleges. Locations of those in the UK and Republic of Ireland with brief descriptions of their collections can be found in the Libraries Directory 1998-2000 ed. Iain Walker (2001). The Archives Hub provides online searchable descriptions of archives held in UK universities and colleges.
Universities with significant collections for building history include:
University of Aberdeen Library
- Papers of Dr Thomas Ross (1839 - 1930), Edinburgh architect and architectural historian.
- The George Washington Wilson Photographic Collection - over 40,000 glass plate negatives produced by the Aberdeen firm of George Washington Wilson & Co. during the second half of the nineteenth century.
The Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, University of York, St Anthony's Hall, Peaseholme Green, York YO1 2PW
- Collections
- The records of the Archdiocese of York. They include the most extensive accumulation of probate records (wills and inventories) outside London, dating from the 14th century to 1858; plans and drawings of churches in the diocese from the end of the 17th century to the 1990s.
- Records of companies and institutions, including hospitals.
- Architectural plans and photographs from trade publications 1870s - 1920s: Online place index (in pdf format).
- Catalogues and guides:
- Evans, P., Church Fabric in the York Diocese: the records of the archbishop's faculty jurisdiction 1613-1899 (Borthwick Text and Calendar 19, 1999).
- Smith, D.M., A Guide to the Archive Collections in the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research (Borthwick Text and Calendar 1, 1973).
- Smith, D.M., A Supplementary Guide to the Archive Collections in the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research (Borthwick Text and Calendar 7, 1980). The content of these two volumes by Smith is available online, broken up into a series of documents in pdf format.
- A Guide to Archival Accessions at the Borthwick Institute 1981-1996 (Borthwick List and Index 19, 1997).
University of Bristol Library, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol
- Brunel Collection: original source material on Isambard Kingdom Brunel, his father and his son.
- Paget family estate papers: Somerset and Staffs, 1270-1920.
- Pinney family estate papers: Dorset and West Indies, 1650-1995.
- Humphrey Repton: correspondence 1788-1814.
- Bristol Society of Architects library (est. 1851) with a good collection of old and rare books on architecture.
University of Bristol, Department of Drama, Cantocks Close, Bristol BS8 1UP
Theatre Collection: programmes, playbills, posters, paintings and prints. Major archive collections include those of the London Old Vic, Bristol Old Vic, Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Her Majesty's Theatre.
Cambridge University Library, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR
- Collections: The Department of Manuscripts
contains a number of collections including:
- The Ely Diocesan Records
- Ely Cathedral MSS
- Ely Dean and Chapter Archives
- Some archives deposited by individual colleges, including the estate papers of Queen's.
- Private estate papers which have been deposited.
- The archives of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (useful for their charity schools.)
- Online lists of the main categories of MSS in these collections.
- Catalogues:
- Catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge, 5 vols (1886-67).
- P.R.Robinson, Catalogue of Dated and Dateable Manuscripts, c.737-1600, 2 vols. (1988).
The libraries of some individual colleges also have their own collections of MSS, including several monastic cartularies, described by Davis.
Durham University Library
- Collections:
- The archives of the Palatinate of Durham, which includes administration records of the extensive former estates of the Bishop of Durham 14th to 20th centuries.
- Durham Priory and (post-Dissolution) Cathedral muniments and estate records 11th to 20th centuries.
- Durham diocesan records, including architectural plans for churches, parsonage houses, parish halls and other ecclesiastical buildings, many associated with the architect William H. Wood (fl. 1889-1939).
- Durham land tax records 1760-1949.
- Papers of the Howard of Naworth family (Earls of Carlisle 1661-), relating to estates in Cumberland and Northumberland, mainly 18th to 20th-century.
- Online descriptions of the main categories of MSS in these collections.
University of Edinburgh, George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LJ
- Collections:
- Architectural drawings of William Henry Playfair and Sir Robert Rowland Anderson
- Office papers of Sir Robert Lorimer and Sir Robert Matthew.
- Laing collection of MSS includes deeds.
- Catalogue: Rev. John Anderson, Calendar of the Laing Charters (1899).
University of Exeter
- Collections:
- The Syon Abbey collections, including medieval and early modern manuscripts.
- Major Clayton's Photographs: 25 volumes of photographs showing architectural features of churches, castles, etc. in England (mainly West Midlands, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Border Counties), Wales and Scotland, c.1920-1930.
- Papers of Courtenay Arthur Ralegh Radford (1900-1998), historian.
- Drawings and engravings of various churches in the United Kingdom and Ireland, possibly by Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden (1818-1899), antiquary.
- Exeter Cathedral: four ring bound volumes of photographs.
- Photograph albums of churches, compiled by Fred. W. Latterall (1872-74) and Bedford Lemere and Co., London.
- Copies of drawings of Exeter University buildings by Basil Spence (1907-1976), architect.
- Negatives of photographs of Exeter University buildings.
- Two volumes of interior and exterior photographs of English cathedrals and churches.
- Collection of George McNeil Rushforth (1862-1938), classical scholar: various volumes of his book The stained glass of Great Malvern Priory Church, Gloucester 1916-1927, containing mounted b/w copy photographs taken by Sydney A. Pitcher with annotated pencil drawings and notes.
- Postcard Collection of Sir Alfred William Clapham (1883-1950), architectural historian: postcards of British castles, churches and other historic buildings, arranged by county.
- Postcard Collection of Sydney A. Pitcher, photographer of Gloucester: postcards of churches and other ecclesiastical buildings, mainly in the Gloucestershire vicinity, 1920s-1930s.
- Online descriptions of these collections online.
The Brooking Collection of Architectural Detail, University of Greenwich
A comprehensive collection of over 7,000 architectural details from the last five centuries - windows, doors, fanlights, staircase sections, bootscrapers, rainwater heads and wooden mouldings. Largely in store and not open to the public. The Brooking Home Study Collection (of photographs) near Guildford in Surrey can be visited by appointment.
Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow
- Collection of the architectural drawings and papers of John Rennie Mackintosh.
- Catalogue: Pamela Robertson (ed.), C.R.Mackintosh: The Architectural Papers.
University of Kent at Canterbury
- Theatrical collection.
- Collection on windmills.
University of Manchester Library
- Greater Manchester Textile Mills Survey: see Factories for the publication from this.
- Manchester Society of Architects Archive.
- The Methodist Archives and Research Collection.
- Papers of Sir (John) Hubert Worthington (1886-1963), architect, including architectural plans of Imperial College, the Inner Temple, and Brewers Hall.
- Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain Archive
University of Nottingham Library
Holds the archives of a number of local landed families, whose estates in some cases were scattered over several counties, and some ecclesiastical archives. Part of the MSS catalogue is online.
Oxford University
The Bodleian Library has so notable a collection of MSS that it is classified here as a national repository.
Worcester College has a collection of architectural drawings by Inigo Jones and others. Catalogues:
- John Harris and A.A.Tait, Catalogue of Drawings by Inigo Jones and John Webb in the Library of Worcester College, Oxford (1979).
- H.M.Colvin, A Catalogue of Architectural Drawings of the 18th and 19th Centuries in the Library of Worcester College, Oxford (1964).
University of St Andrews
Among its special collections, the university library holds one of the largest and most important collections of historic photography in Scotland, including very early photographs. There is a searchable online database.
Trinity College Library, College Street, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland
.jpg "Barbavilla House, Westmeath (Trinity College, Dublin MS 11198/8/61)")
- Collection: Its manuscript collection
includes family and estate papers:
- MS Donoughmore Deposit : the papers of the Earls of Donoughmore, whose family home was at Knocklofty, Co. Tipperary, span the period from the mid 17th to the mid 20th century.
- MS Courtown Deposit; MS 11183: the Courtown papers contain records of the Stopford family. They cover a period from the 18th to the 20th century and relate to the management of the lands in the counties of Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny.
- MSS 7576-7635: the Arran Papers relate to the Gore family whose lands were in counties Wexford, Donegal and Mayo. The papers and date from the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries.
- MS Barker Ponsonby Deposit: these papers relate to counties Tipperary, Kilkenny and Limerick and span from the late 17th to the early 19th century.
- TCD MS 3939-3984a: the papers of the Conolly family of Castletown, Co. Kildare cover the period 1709 to 1900.
- MSS 7258-7360: the papers of the Clements family, of counties Cavan and Leitrim.
- MSS 4817-4823: the papers of the Hamiltons of Dunboyne, Co. Meath.
- MSS 1933a-n and 4813-4816: the papers of the Hartpole-Bowens of counties Mayo, Laois and Kilkenny.
- MSS 3575-3587: the papers of the Earbery and Crofton families of Co. Cork (mainly deeds).
- MSS 5960-5964: the papers of the Barons Ormathwaite of counties Cork and Kerry (mainly deeds).
Warwick Mouldings Archive, 36 Southbank Road, Kenilworth CV8 1LA
- Collection: About 10,000 architectural profile drawings established by Dr R. K. Morris as a national collection of mouldings data from major medieval and early Renaissance buildings (c.1050-1650) in the United Kingdom and to provide an objective context against which to evaluate studies which employ profiles as historical evidence. The material is primarily for England, with some holdings also for Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the near continent.
Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, Whitworth Park, Manchester M15 6ER
- Collection: British water-colours and topographical drawings from the 18th century to the present day.
- Catalogue: The Collections Catalogue is available online in the Prints and Drawings and Textiles Study Rooms.