The nearest railway station is Waterloo and the nearest tube stations are Westminster, Lambeth North and Waterloo. 

Bus routes stopping outside the Library include the number 507, C10 and 77.

Further information about how to get to the Library can be found at: https://lambethpalacelibrary.org/using-the-library/getting-here/

There is no café at the Library, though they are only a short walk from Lower Marsh & Waterloo areas where there are several options.

You should aim to arrive at the reception desk by 1.55 pm., so that one of the Library staff could meet us there as a group. The visit will include a guided tour of the library collections and a viewing of their exhibition hall which contains 4 exhibition cases.  The tour visit should last between 1 and 1 ½ hours.

This will be followed by a Q & A session at the end.

Lambeth Palace Library is the historic library and record office of the Archbishops of Canterbury and the national library and archive of the Church of England. Its collections have been freely available for research from 1610, when it was founded under the will of Archbishop Richard Bancroft.

In 1953, the Library was redefined as the main special library for the history of the Church of England, with additional responsibilities as a repository and research centre for Church of England archives. In 1996 it also took into its care the substantial pre-1850 manuscript and printed collections of Sion College library (founded 1629), the historic library of the City of London clergy. Lambeth Palace Library’s move to a purpose-built new building, which opened in 2021, has provided the opportunity to unite its archival collections with those of the former Church of England Record Centre and will ensure that all the Library’s collections are preserved in the best conditions and made more widely available in the future.

There is a maximum of 30 places on this visit, so would any one interested in attending please contact David Lass, Hon. Secretary, the ARLG-LASE Committee, at his e-mail address

david@davidlass.co.uk by Wednesday 20^th July.