85 Year Old Prime Minister Wheelbarrowed a Donation of 32,000 Books between his Home and the Library in this Touching Story

85 Year Old Prime Minister Wheelbarrowed a Donation of 32,000 Books between his Home and the Library in this Touching Story

Alexander Meddings - November 2, 2018

85 Year Old Prime Minister Wheelbarrowed a Donation of 32,000 Books between his Home and the Library in this Touching Story
The “Tin Tabernacle”, Gladstone’s original library. Credit: People’s Collection Wales

Building Gladstone’s Library

To call the task of building Gladstone’s Library laborious would be an understatement, even if the man undertaking it wasn’t already well into his eighties. Accompanied by his valet and one of his daughters, and armed with nothing but a wheelbarrow and a whole lot of willpower, Gladstone personally transferred 32,000 tomes from his personal collection some three-quarters of a mile from his residence at Hawarden Castle to the site of the library.

Because Gladstone’s library was populated with books built up over the whole duration of great politician’s long and studious life, it should come as no surprise that the themes of its corpus was varied. The big three subjects, however, were theology, literary theory, and history and politics. But it wasn’t just the books that Gladstone contributed. He also invested £40,000 of his hard-earned money towards building the “Tin Tabernacle”, as the original building was called for reasons that are patently apparent from the photograph above.

He consecrated the library on December 23, 1895, and I use the word consecrate deliberately. Writing in his diary on the day of its dedication, he penned: “I have this day constituted my trust at St Deiniol’s. The cost of the work has been I think £41 to £42,000, including some charges of maintenance to Dec. 31. 95. May God of His mercy prosper it.” The entry’s reverential tone may come as a surprise to the modern reader, and seems to speaks volumes of the mission Gladstone believed he was carrying out. The eagle-eyed among you will have picked up on something else in the entry though — that he referred to the building not as Gladstone’s library but as St Deiniol’s.

85 Year Old Prime Minister Wheelbarrowed a Donation of 32,000 Books between his Home and the Library in this Touching Story
Today’s library. Credit: Gladstone’s Library

St Deiniol was the name Gladstone originally gave to his residential library, though why he picked this sixth century Welsh saint in particular remains something of a mystery. But after his death three years later, plans got underway to build a new, permanent library. A fervent public fundraising initiative raised £9,000 in the years following his death, enough to enable the design and construction of the library that stands today. Designed by John Douglas, it was officially opened by Gladstone’s aristocratic confidant, Earl Spencer, on October 14, 1902. It would host its first residential guests four years later.

You can still stay at Gladstone’s library and sleep among the books. The library is home to 26 boutique, en-suite bedrooms which are the perfect place to read and relax. Guests staying over at Gladstone’s library have access to the collection from 9am until 10pm (five hours after it shuts to the general public) and are allowed to take books back to their rooms so they can burn the midnight oil and read into the early hours.

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