TRINITY

In 1676, Isaac Barrow, the Master of Trinity, published an appeal for funds to enable the creation of a new library for the College, citing that the existing space had neither ‘Strength [nor] Capacity’ for new books.1 A fire in the old library in Great Court ten years previously had prompted the consideration of substantial change to the building, and a final financial impetus propelled the College into action when James Duport, a former Fellow of Trinity, left one hundred pounds for the building of a new library and his collection of 2,144 volumes to the College in 1675. 2 The vision for the new library was a lofty one: Barrow’s appeal promised that it would ‘yield much Ornament to the University, and some honour to the Nation.’ Christopher Wren, who was at the height of his career and in the midst of designing the new St Paul’s Cathedral, was a natural choice for the architect.

Christopher Wren’s first proposal for Trinity’s new library was a round building, similar to the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford; when this design was rejected, Wren opted for the floorplan of a more traditional European collegiate library. Fortunately for Trinity today, the Library was built with the capacity for 50,000 books, despite the College only owning around 3,500 when planning began in 1675.3 The foresight to change the location of the Library and to plan for an exponential increase in its collection size anticipated the changing needs of the College and has kept the Wren functional for over three hundred years.

Trinity is fortunate to have two surviving account books relating to the Library’s construction: one details the donations given to the College for the new library and the other, kept by Robert Grumbold, the Library’s contracting mason, records the daily labour of raising the building.4

Fellows of Trinity feature prominently in the list of benefactors; Fellows from other Colleges, alumni, and local clergy also contributed in significant numbers, and donations ranged from around five to one hundred pounds. Isaac Newton, only just established as a Fellow at this date, is listed as having given forty pounds. One of the only non-monetary donations recorded in the account book was from a London goldsmith, Samuel Price, who ‘gave the King’s Arms in painted glasse’.

Grumbold’s account book, more so than the donors’ book, allows us to piece together the day-to-day work of constructing the Library. The names of individual labourers, their professions, the number of days they contributed to the project of building the Wren, and the wages they were paid survive through this document. When reading through Grumbold’s careful notes, the sheer amount of physical effort required to construct such a monumental structure is clear: the bricklayers who laid the foundations, quarriers who dug stone, masons, carpenters, ironsmiths, plasterers, painters; lime and timber merchants; and those paid to move sand, stone, and wood down the Cam are all mentioned. Detailed accounts of their work connect the Wren that we experience today as a flourishing research library back to fleeting moments from its creation. Many of the men employed appear to have worked on the Wren for years, and it is fitting that the record of their names and daily labour continues to be preserved in the library they brought into being.

A new or a better student library?

Wren had the foresight to allow for the Library’s growing collections. However, the College Library for students has almost reached storage capacity and lacks specialist spaces. Desks are also already in high demand, and, over the coming years, the library will need to continue to support an expanding student community while providing a comfortable and inspiring environment in which to study and research together.

This is one of the key challenges that architects Allies and Morrison are exploring for the College, in consultation with Fellows, students, staff and alumni, as part of the master planning process for Trinity at 500: A vision from now to 2046. View their presentation on ISSUU issuu.com/trinityalumni/ docs/22044_trinity_college_ masterplan_update_display_as

To discover how you can support Trinity’s evolution, please contact us at alumni@trin.cam.ac.uk