The Library
© National Trust
Sidney Parvin built this section of the house in 1937-38.
The room boasts, mullioned and transomed outsized bay windows at each end.
The room houses over seven thousand volumes; part of an entire collection in excess of nine thousand, amassed by the First Lord Fairhaven during his lifetime.
Many of the more important books from this collection have been loaned to the Fitzwilliam Museum.
Lighting this immense space are two George II chandeliers, created by Behrens, a Hannovarian silversmith, to designs by William Kent.
The Elmwood used for the bookshelves was cut from the piles of John Rennie's Waterloo Bridge (built 1817), following its destruction in 1934.
This provides a fitting link to the centrepiece of the room, 'The embarkation of George IV at Whitehall' by John Constable (1776 - 1837).
The piece was painted to commemorate George IV's opening of Waterloo Bridge in 1817. This painting is a noteworthy example of Constables' early work.
On the lower shelves of the library one can also see many of Anglesey Abbeys' collection of bronzes.
These include works by, among others,
- R. Tait Mackenzie
- Lord Leighton P.R.A. and
- Sir Alfred Gilbert.
Anglesey Abbey has a collection of over fifty clocks, spotting all of those on view is no mean feat!
Of note in the Library are:
- A rolling ball clock, by William Congrieve and
- A Louis XV ormolu bracket clock by Etienne Lenoir.
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