Gladstone's Library

A unique residential library in North Wales with beautiful Reading Rooms, Food for Thought restaurant, accommodation and more.
Read, write, rest!

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

We have grounds work taking place (mainly outside the building) from Monday 29th September until Friday 3rd October. There may be some disruption and noise, and parking will be limited.

Thank you for your patience. We look forward to telling you some exciting news soon!

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

📢 General Notice 📢

Due to our Alibis in the Archive crime writing festival taking place this weekend, the Reading Rooms will be closed from Friday 5th June - Sunday 7th June.

We apologise for the inconvenience.

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

📢 General Notice 📢

We will not be able to issue new Reader cards this Saturday, 30th May 2026.

Any existing Readers will be able to access the Reading Rooms as usual. We will be able to issue new cards from Sunday, 31st May.

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

Residents can enjoy our Theology Room until 10pm daily. Find somewhere cosy to sit and enjoy our peaceful surroundings, in the morning, afternoon or evening!

To book a stay please visit our websitr (link in bio!) or call our Reception on 01244 532350.

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

📣 General Notice 📣

The Reading Rooms will be closed to Readers and Researchers this Sunday, 24th May 2026.

Readers will be able to access the Theology Room as usual, from 9am-10pm.

There will be no access to the History room, or the Annex during this time.

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

For more information (and to book your tickets), please visit our website, link in bio!

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

We still have tickets available for Alison Binney's poetry writing Masterclass, taking place this weekend!

For more information (and to book your tickets), please visit our website, link in bio!

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

💌 Alison will then provide a range of historical artefacts for participants to work with during the workshop, encouraging people to listen to what these artefacts might be whispering to them, and to craft their own poems inspired by historical sources.

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

🗡️ We only have 5 tickets left for our Alibis in the Archive Festival, 5th - 7th June 2026 🗡️

🎟️ For more information (and to grab your tickets!), go to our website, link in bio!

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

We want to wish everyone taking exams this summer the very best of luck! It's been wonderful to see so many young people revising in the Library this year.

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

Do you ever annotate your books, or write notes by hand? Or do you now use your phone to jot things down?

📖 P11/4

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

How do you record your thoughts?

W.E. Gladstone wrote a diary throughout most of his life, and he developed his own set of abbreviations to use in his diaries, evident from his school days.

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

Many of his books also also contain marginalia, his pencil annotations which give us an insight into how Gladstone interacted with the material he was reading and what he thought about it.

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

Explore the voices of women from the past by listening to what historical artefacts might be whispering to us. What are they saying? How are they saying it? How might their voices speak to our lives today?

For more info or to book your tickets, visit our website, link in bio!

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

There is less than a week to go until Alison Binney's talk, celebrating her debut poetry collection, The Opposite of Swedish Death Cleaning!

📆 12 May 7-8PM
🎟️ Tickets £10

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

If you are interested in picking up poetry yourself, or looking to refine your masterpiece, why not join Alison for her Masterclass?

📆 23 May 10.30AM-3PM
🎟️ Tickets £70

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

In some instances, these names are the starting point for further research about the book’s owner. In other cases, their name in a book might be the only thing we know about the person.

Do you personalise your books?

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

What is the importance of a name?

Gladstone’s Library today holds a great number of pre-1900 books, typically classed as ‘rare books’ – books significant for both their historic printed texts and as representing material culture in their own right.

[Gladstone's Library @gladlib]

Some owners added bookplates rather than handwritten inscriptions to personalise their books. For example, an edition of Memoirs of several ladies of Great Britain by George Ballard (Oxford, 1752) [M20.9/2], related to the personal library of Eliza Stepney Gulston (1769-1858).