We’re looking forward to welcoming you to the Library.

Tours: Please use this link to go to the tour booking page. You can also Contact Us to discuss group visits or access arrangements.

Readers: Please get in touch via our Contact Us page to arrange a reader appointment. We will also be happy to do whatever we can to answer your queries or assist in research remotely. Please allow as much notice as possible for an appointment in person. Archival enquiries are dealt with Monday-Wednesday only.

Chetham’s Library has been in continuous use as a public library for over 350 years. It is housed in a beautiful sandstone building dating from 1421 which was built to accommodate the priests of Manchester’s Collegiate Church. The entire collection at Chetham’s Library has been designated as one of national and international importance. The Library is also an accredited museum, attracting visitors from all over the world.

If you’re coming to us as a reader or researcher, you can find out about our collections here and in our catalogues. If you’d like to see what aspects of the Library you can explore from your screen, please start with our From Home page, which we developed during the earlier lockdown.

Visiting the library

Public tours

Please visit our blog, From Home pages and social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) for regular highlights from our collection; we will endeavour to keep posting things of interest!

Tour booking dates here

Need to get in touch? Please contact us here.

Humphrey Chetham (1580–1653), the most successful gentleman merchant of seventeenth-century Lancashire, was born in Crumpsall Hall, near Manchester, and later lived at Clayton Hall near Droylsden. His fortune was...

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Blog

  1. Humphrey Chetham’s Dinner

    There have been no verses addressed to our eponymous founder this century, we believe, until...

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  2. New Librarian announced

    We are delighted to announce that Julianne Simpson will be our new Librarian from May...

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  3. Making Their Mark: The Women of the Book Trade

    Over the last few months, we’ve shared several posts about the female authors featured in...

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