In York
Resources in York
The City of York
Rich in internationally significant buildings, not least the Minster and many parish churches
York is well placed to allow easy access to London and other cities.
Libraries and Collections in York
Who to contact
- University Library and Archives
Including the JB Morrell Library, the Raymond Burton Library for Humanities Research, the King's Manor Library and the Borthwick Institute for Archives. Besides the usual books, journals and bibliographical resources which may be expected of a university library (including an ever-expanding art history section), the library at York offers extensive online resources. There are computerised versions of many printed indexes and abstracts, and a number of databases with no hard copy equivalent. Do have a look at the Subject Guide for Art History which is a crucial source of links to library journals and databases, and the links work from anywhere, including off campus.
- Borthwick Institute for Archives
The Borthwick Institute, one of the major archive repositories in Britain, holds the records of the Archbishopric of York from the early thirteenth century onwards, and specialises in the study of ecclesiastic institutions. The Gurney Library is a reference collection with limited borrowing facilities and contains works with a particular emphasis on church history and administration; it has good runs of relevant periodicals.
- King's Manor Library
The Wormald, Newton and Newbold collections, major resources for medieval art history, are housed in the King's Manor, as is the Architectural Studies Library, an invaluable source for architectural historians.
- Minster Library and Archives
The York Minster Library has particular strengths in iconography and art history as well as in medieval history, patristic and liturgical writings and literature. It possesses a number of Anglo-Saxon and medieval manuscripts and holds the archives of the Dean and Chapter. It offers reference facilities and allows registered postgraduate students to borrow books. Including resources for architecture.
- City of York Public Library
The City of York Public Library has a valuable reference collection of local history materials, with subject index and indexed files of local newspapers since the eighteenth century. Available to individuals who live, work or study in York. It is free to join and most things are free.
- York City Archives
The York City Archives (adjacent to the King's Manor, within the City Art Gallery building) contain not only civic records for York from the medieval period onwards, but also numerous other private and institutional deposits relating to the history of York and its people.
Photographic archives
If you are interested in undertaking research on an aspect of British art there are collections of slides used principally (but not exclusively) for teaching in Vanbrugh College and the King's Manor. The latter also houses a large collection of York photographs taken by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) and the late Dr Peter Newton.
The City of York Public Library has a collection of some 9000 photographs of York taken over the past hundred years.