A Fortress of Welsh Memory
The National Library of Wales stands on Penglais Hill above the university town of Aberystwyth, overlooking Cardigan Bay and the rolling green hills of Ceredigion. Since receiving its Royal Charter in 1907, it has served as the legal deposit library for the United Kingdom and the primary guardian of the written, printed, and recorded heritage of Wales. Its establishment was the fulfilment of a long-held national aspiration, reflecting the cultural renaissance that swept through Wales in the late nineteenth century.
The campaign to create a national library gathered momentum in the 1870s and 1880s, driven by scholars, clergy, and public figures who recognised that the scattered manuscripts and records of Welsh civilisation needed a permanent home. After a spirited competition between several Welsh towns, Aberystwyth was chosen as the site in 1905, and the foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII in 1911.
Collections of Exceptional Breadth
The Library holds approximately seven million books and periodicals, together with vast collections of manuscripts, maps, photographs, paintings, sound recordings, and moving images. Among its most precious treasures are medieval Welsh manuscripts, including the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest surviving manuscript written entirely in Welsh, dating from around 1250. This extraordinary document contains some of the earliest known Welsh poetry, including verses attributed to the legendary bards Taliesin and Aneirin.
The Library also holds the Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript, one of the most important witnesses to Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and the Laws of Hywel Dda, the medieval Welsh legal codes that provide an unparalleled window into early Welsh society. These collections are not merely Welsh treasures but documents of international significance.
Preserving the Visual and Spoken Record
Beyond its manuscript and printed holdings, the National Library is home to the national collection of Welsh photographs, comprising millions of images that document every aspect of Welsh life from the mid-nineteenth century onward. From slate quarries and coal mines to chapels, eisteddfodau, and seaside holidays, these photographs form an intimate visual history of a nation.
The Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, housed within the Library, preserves film and audio recordings that capture the Welsh language, music, political life, and social customs. Early cinema footage, radio broadcasts, oral history interviews, and field recordings of traditional music all find their home here, ensuring that the sounds and moving images of Welsh life are safeguarded for future generations.
Digital Transformation
The Library has been at the forefront of digitisation in the United Kingdom. Its Welsh Newspapers Online project has made millions of pages of historic Welsh newspapers freely searchable, transforming access to the primary sources of Welsh history. The digitisation of its map collection, parish records, and photographic archives has opened these resources to researchers and family historians worldwide.
A Living National Institution
The National Library of Wales is far more than a storehouse for old documents. It is an active cultural institution that mounts exhibitions, hosts events, supports research, and engages communities across Wales and beyond. Its reading rooms welcome thousands of visitors each year, from professional historians to people tracing their family roots.
As both a legal deposit library and a national cultural institution, the Library occupies a dual role that gives it extraordinary breadth. Every book published in the United Kingdom arrives on its shelves, while its special collections preserve the unique heritage of a nation with one of the oldest literary traditions in Europe.
This article was inspired by personal memories connected to the National Library of Wales recently preserved through digitisation. If anyone holds old photographs, film, or recordings of the National Library of Wales, services like EachMoment (https://www.eachmoment.co.uk) can help preserve them.