Library Archives - The Christian Heritage Centre

25th June 2021 – Updated 7th July 2021

The CHC blog

The Hardwick Library project

Theodore House has always been described as a “retreat and study centre”. A key feature of any such place are, of course, books. Books to browse, to ponder, to draw solace from, to inform one’s knowledge, to expand one’s understanding, to acquire wisdom from. As you enter Theodore House’s spacious atrium, the door facing you from the left and back of the atrium carries the inscription “Hardwick Library”.

Peter and Brigid Hardwick were well-known as pillars of the Stonyhurst community, bringing the benefits of their wisdom and learning to the school for over 50 years. The Guardian’s obituary described Peter as “an English teacher of exceptional brilliance and inspiration, despite a complete lack of pedagogical training or qualifications”, and Brigid was the first woman on Stonyhurst College’s staff. The library was named after them for their profound influence on generations of Stonyhurst students, and for the kind bequest made of some of their books to the charity. Lord Alton paid tribute to them in this article, in which he noted the importance of books for education, whose ultimate aim is to prepare us for death – and the life to come!

To date, the “Hardwick Library” has remained a room used for meetings. The planning of a library, the seeking of funds for furnishing and of books to fill the library have all required time from amongst the many competing priorities.

So it is with great pleasure that we have finally moved this project forward. With some funds having been received from a generous donor, a basic scheme was agreed. In the meantime, the core of the CHC’s book collection had already been formed by the acquisition of Stratford Caldecott’s personal library, and by Karol Gajewski’s bequest.

With the financial limitations of our funding, the furnishing needed to be economical yet effective. IKEA’s timeless and ubiquitous Billy bookcases formed the backbone of the scheme, which aimed for all-round, floor-to-ceiling (nearly) shelving. Using two bookcase extension units on each cabinet, the shelves reach to just the right height to allow for some over-cabinet lighting.

Once assembled, Stonyhurst College’s skilled joiners set to work securing the bookcases to the wall and creating a cornice and beading to give the bookcases a touch of class.

Some careful work by the College’s electricians enabled us to fit another of IKEA’s products – the discreet Urshult cabinet lights. A unit was mounted above each shelf to give a soft glow over the bookcovers. Together with a reliance on low-level lighting (floor and desk lamps), this will create a warm atmosphere during the darker hours.

We are now awaiting to secure four desks, which will occupy the positions under the windows and between the separated bookcases (right-hand photo below). All that will remain will be to complete the furnishing with a warm rug and some comfortable high-backed armchairs. Donations towards these will be gratefully received!

Disclaimer:

IKEA have neither sponsored the library nor this post (though they are quite welcome to!).

7th July 2021 update

A beautiful rug originating from the city of Tabriz, in Iran, has arrived. Tabriz was originally the capital of the Safavid dynasty in East Azerbaijan, and the oldest carpet-production centre in the country.

It has been matched with four, comfortable leather armchairs, to create a cosy reading environment.

The various collections of books are slowly finding their way onto the shelves in the meantime, while we continue to look for suitable desks and chairs to complete the picture.

2nd March 2021

The CHC blog

Stratford Caldecott's library finds a home at the CHC

Stefan Kaminski

The Christian Heritage Centre is very pleased to announce its acquisition of Stratford Caldecott’s personal library, which will find a home at Theodore House and form the backbone of the CHC’s own library.

Stratford Caldecott is a name much-loved by many students, scholars and writers both in the Catholic world and without. Referred to as “the most powerful voice for Catholic culture in the Anglophone world”, Stratford found his way to Catholicism from an agnostic background and by way of several Eastern religions. His conversion was helped along by his realisation that the stories which had shaped his youth were all built on a Christian worldview. These particularly included C.S. Lewis’ and J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings.

Apart from teaching at Oxford, his own alma mater, Stratford set up the Centre for Faith and Culture with his wife Leonie, as well as establishing the Second Spring movement with her. He served on the boards of Communio, The Chesterton Review and the Catholic Truth Society, as well as editing Magnificat, Humanum and the Second Spring journal. He wrote and published widely on Christian apologetics, theology, and cultural themes.

Stratford sadly passed away in May 2014 after a long battle with cancer, though the work of the Second Spring movement very much continues under the guiding hands of Leonie and of Tessa Caldecott Cialini. Following his death, Leonie moved house and has been keen to find a good home for the Stratford’s library.

“This is an historic opportunity for the CHC. Strat is an incredibly important figure in the history of contemporary Catholicism in the UK (and beyond) and contributed to the kinds of initiatives so dear to the CHC,” says Dr Rebekah Lamb, a Trustee of the charity. Rebekah was greatly influenced by Stratford, having attended his Second Spring summer school, and she now lectures in Theology, Imagination and the Arts at St Andrews.

“Buried a stone’s throw from his beloved Tolkien, Strat was crucial to helping direct (if not inaugurate) substantive scholarship on the positive influence Catholicism had on the literary greats of modernity and is responsible for collecting and, for a time, housing the Chesterton archive which is now under the curatorship of the University of Notre Dame (at its London Global Gateway).

He was a deep reader, thinker, and committed Catholic as passionate about Catholic Social Teaching as he was about formation, the gift of the Eucharist, and authentic inter-religious dialogue.

When he passed away seven years ago, he left behind countless friends and fellow scholars from around the globe who saw in him not only a thinker of penetrating insights informed by a deep life of prayer but also a mentor and friend.”

Housing his personal collection will not only serve as a benefit for those who take part in events with the CHC. It will also provide insight for scholars who wish to gain a deeper insight into Strat as thinker–after all, you can judge a scholar by his bookshelves!

Stratford’s library includes not only a breadth of important philosophical and theological volumes stretching from the Fathers of the Church to the 20^th century, but also a collection of important writings from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, as well as a library of writings by Lewis, Tolkien and other of the Inklings. A complete set of the Chesterton Review is also present.