HISTORIC COLLECTIONS

Visit Stonyhurst College this summer to view the world renowned historic collections that provide a unique glimpse into a fascinating past

When students at Stonyhurst College leave for their summer holidays, the College opens its doors to visitors who are able to gain a unique insight into what life is like at this prestigious boarding and day school.

But what visitors may not know is that within this vast, imposing historic building, Stonyhurst has the biggest collection of English Catholic artefacts and books in the world, including relics from saints, remains of martyrs, silverware and ancient manuscripts.

A total of 60,000 books and 75,000 artefacts including animals and insects from the natural world, make up the Stonyhurst collections – many tracing the school’s history back to 1593 when it was founded in France.

Open days and tours not only enable visitors to wander the great corridors, visit the chapels and see the Great Hall, they are also able to visit the observatory and the gardens including the Yew Walk where Arthur Conan Doyle based his Hound of the Baskerville’s thriller.

This summer visitors to the College will have the opportunity to view the historic collection of books and artefacts in the newly opened Arundell Library.

The Arundell has been closed for refurbishment for the past three years, but it has now re-opened and houses a fascinating collection bequeathed to the College by Lord Arundell in 1835.

This private family collection dating back to 1470 includes a first folio of Shakespeare (currently on loan to Blackburn Museum which has the second, third and fourth folios) medieval manuscripts as well as 140 Durer and Rembrandt engravings and around 4,000 books.

The library also has display cases for the College’s rarer collections of prestigious manuscripts including one of the earliest copies of the Koran dating back the 10th Century.

The Arundell is one of three historic libraries at Stonyhurst – others include the Bay Library and the Square Library, both of which will re-open next summer when the College also plans to open its own museum.

The museum will feature collections that trace the history of the Jesuit school and will include medieval vestments, silver, relics and artefacts that cover 500 years of science, arts and culture at the college.

“Within the Stonyhurst collections we have items from every continent in the world including 12th century ceramics dating back to before the Incas, artefacts from the North American plains and a celestial globe used by astronomers in the 16th century to locate Mecca,” says Stonyhurst’s Curator of Collections, Jan Graffius, who explains that some of the religious items donated to the College were given to the school for safe keeping during the conflicts in the 16th and 17th century when Catholic artefacts had to be kept hidden.

“In the 19th century, by which time the school had moved to its present site, there were not the same religious differences, but many Catholics still found it difficult to find a job so many travelled, joined the army or became explorers – and of course the Jesuits were great missionaries and collected objects from around the world from different cultures,” adds Jan, whose work not only involves documenting all the historic items, but ensuring their preservation and protection, which in some cases can be a highly dangerous task.

One of the historic collections at the College includes the Charles Waterton Collection, a 19th century collection of preserved birds, insects and mammals in original cases hand-made by former Stonyhurst pupil Waterton.

Jan had the fascinating job of restoring some of the exhibits, a job that requires thick gloves and a mask as Waterton preserved many of the animals and birds by soaking them in bichloride of mercury, a highly poisonous chemical.

She has also had the daunting task of handling a preserved tarantula, which is still highly poisonous after 200 years!

Having such a vast collection of cultural, religious and historic items at their fingertips not only gives visitors the chance to view and learn, it gives Stonyhurst students educational opportunities to become immersed in the school’s history as well as providing a valuable research tool for academics worldwide.

“The collections are very valuable teaching and research aids. Students become totally immersed in history when they can actually see items relating to a certain topic,”concludes Jan, who recently toured 16 North American cities in 21 days with exhibits from the collection.

“The Stonyhurst collections have global circulation,” she concludes. “We have an excellent programme of lending all over the world.”

SUMMER TOURS AT STONYHURST
The College will be open for pre-booked group tours of 15 or more during the months of July and August
To book, contact: domestic.bursar@stonyhurst.ac.uk or telephone 01254 827084
Details are on the website: www.stonyhurst.ac.uk

Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst, Clitheroe BB7 9PZ
01254 826345
www.stonyhurst.ac.uk

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