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The Gibson Library
2 King Street
Saffron Walden
Essex CB10 1ES
Telephone: 0345 6037628
(Switchboard – ask for Saffron Walden Gibson Library)
Email: society@gibsonlibrary.org.uk
Local studies
The Local studies collection is unique and wide-ranging.
Along with Saffron Walden deeds, Essex wills, monumental inscriptions, electoral lists, directories and year books, the collection offers a number of unusual books, articles, and primary sources.
Please note, the content on this page is displayed as accordions.
Photographs
The Gibson Library is home to a huge collection of photographs, many of them by local photographers of note such as David Campbell, Edwin Smith and Richard Jemmett.
A particularly interesting compilation can be found in the five Stacey albums, which also include innumerable cuttings, illustrations, notes and ephemera collected by the late town clerk and historian of Saffron Walden, Mr H. C. (Cliff) Stacey. These fascinating and very personal volumes supply much incidental information on Saffron Walden, not easily found elsewhere and are probably the most popular items in the Gibson Library.
Original Manuscripts
The Gibson Library has acquired original manuscripts of great interest to the localhistorian: a day book dated 1814-15 kept by Day Green shopkeepers;the 1812-25 minutes of the Saffron Walden Auxiliary Bible Society;1870s records of the Saffron Walden Horticultural Society; a notebook belonging to local doctor Henry Steer in 1883;and the records of the Clavering Book Society which began in 1788. The 1758 Field Book of Walden is one of the particular treasures.
Themes
The collection of box files provides material on particular themes such as crime, education and archaeology, as well as on the town of Saffron Walden and each of the surrounding villages.Each box contains news cuttings, printed articles and ephemera.Among them are two files crammed with material on the genealogy of local families, much of it donated by family historians.
The Subject Box Files are listed here.
Villages
To find out what books and material are held about local villages, click here.
Microforms
The Gibson Library holdsall the standard references on microfilm or fiche: the International Genealogical Index, parish registers and census returns: an unusual addition is the listing of the 1811 census of Saffron Walden. Among the microfilms are the Board of Guardians minutes from 1887-1940 and some local newspapers: the Essex Standard from 1831-1890, theSaffron Walden Weekly News from 1889 and theHerts & Essex Observer from 1939.
Antiquarian Books
The Gibson Library houses an extensive collection of antiquarian books belonging to Saffron Walden Museum, many of them on local history subjects. They include such enticing titles as: A Short Sketch of the Life of Helen Winder, justifying and explaining her conduct, and exhibiting her enemies in their true colours, published in 1826 and offering insights into local society of that time. There are well-known works such as the transcript of the 1387 Cartulary of Walden Abbey; the original 1862 Flora of Essex by George Stacey Gibson; Gabriel Harvey’s Marginalia and the 1825 version of Pepys’ Diary rescued from obscurity by Lord Braybrooke. Lord Braybrooke’s own 1836History of Audley Endis represented by several copies, one of which is full of insertions and extra information. Likewise John Player’s charming Sketches of Saffron Walden & Vicinity, published in 1845, and which contains his own annotations, identifying some of the characters described. William Winstanley was the local author of the many Poor Robinalmanacs which were enormously popular in the 18th century and of which the Gibson Library has a good collection.
Further Reading
The following works provide a good introduction to the history of Saffron Walden:
- SR Bassett,Saffron Walden: Excavations and Research, 1972-1980. Chelmsford Archaeological Trust, 1982. (CBA Research Report: 45).
- Anna Brooker and Mary Whiteman, Saffron Walden: Portrait of a Market Town.CW Daniel, 1982.
- Jacqueline Cooper,The Well-Ordered Town: a Story of Saffron Walden, Essex, 1792-1862. Cooper Publications, 2000.
- Martyn Everett and Howard Newman, Saffron Walden: A Pictorial History. Phillimore, 1998.
- Martyn Everett and Donald Stewart,The Buildings of Saffron Walden. W Hart, 2003 [2004].
- Jean Gumbrell, Voices of Saffron Walden and Surrounding Villages. Chalford, 1998.
- Jean Gumbrell, Down Your Street. (3 parts) Gumbrell, 1989-95.
- Len Pole,Saffron Walden in Old Photographs. Sutton Publishing, 1997.
- CB Rowntree,Saffron Walden: Then and Now.Hart, 1951.
- HC Stacey,Saffron Walden in Old Photographs. CW Daniel, 1980.
- Malcolm White,Saffron Walden’s History: A Chronological Compilation.White, 1991.