History of Sedbergh School in 50 Objects #4: Sedbergh School Library
Built in 1716, Sedbergh School library is the oldest building still intact on the school site. The plot of land, ‘School Garth’ that the library sits within formed part of Lupton’s establishing endowment of the school and is believed to have been where Lupton’s original school building stood.
When Headmaster Samuel Saunders took up post in 1706, he found the previous school building in disrepair and much too small to accommodate the number of pupils in the expanding school. Saunders sent out letters of appeal to friends of the school and successfully raised funds to build an impressive two storey stone structure with vast windows. The lower floor held one large school room with the upper floor divided into three smaller rooms.
Throughout its 300-year history, the building has changed use many times. In 1883, following the construction of Main School up on School Hill, the ground floor was converted for use as the school chapel and two of the rooms upstairs were combined to make a large library space. In 1900, the top floor was converted into a school museum. The boys and masters had been amassing an extensive collection for some time which included an Egyptian mummy and a large collection of Roman coins. Contemporary editions of the Sedberghian magazines record the generous donations of artefacts given to the School museum by alumni, parents and friends of the School.
The twentieth century saw several major changes to the building, beginning with the installation of electric lights in 1910. A major refurbishment took place in 1958 following a substantial donation from Chairman of the Governors, Brendan Bracken. Bracken was closely involved in the minutiae of planning the refurbishment, indicating the exact table length that would best suit studying boys, which textile samples were appropriate for upholstery and his strong preference for a specific wooden chair from a comparable selection. Brendan Bracken used the refurbishment to strengthen his public ties to Sir Winston Churchill, renaming the library ‘The Winston Churchill Library’, commissioning a bust of Churchill by renowned sculptor Oscar Nemon, and inscribing the words ‘Remember Winston Churchill’ in a wooden panel above the inner library door.
The top floor, the Scholars’ Room, hosts 11 private study carrels for a privileged cohort of Year 13 pupils seeking to attain the highest academic results. The Scholars’ Room also holds the Special Collections library including donated collections from Sedberghians such as Brendan Bracken, Harford Montgomery Hyde and Freddie Spencer Chapman. The ground floor plays host to Sedbergh’s many academic societies, debates, visiting speakers, and Sedbergh’s own annual ‘Academic Challenge’ which sees boarding house teams compete head-to-head for general knowledge supremacy. Today the library remains a cornerstone of academic provision in the school, and it continues to provide a place of sanctuary and inspiration for Sedbergh’s bibliophiles.
