Chawton House Library, a reference library, comprises a collection of over 9,000 volumes, housed within the confines of a grade II* Elizabethan house, Chawton House. A key objective of the project is to provide access to the texts within an appropriate contextual setting, that of a 17th/18th century country house and working manor farm. Therefore, whilst access to and use of the collection is in accordance with usual standards and procedures, the setting is somewhat unique.

The major part of the collection is housed on open shelves in two invigilated library/reading rooms on the ground and first floors. The ground floor room makes use of the Victorian library shelves installed by Montagu Knight and is fully accessible to disabled visitors. These two main reading rooms each accommodate six to eight readers. The remainder of the collection is housed in closed stacks and material will be retrieved for readers on request. Two further rooms are available on the first floor where visitors can work and make use of reference material but not material from the collection.

In addition there are various rooms, corners, window seats and spaces outside where visitors can sit and read or contemplate their surroundings.

Library Services

Photocopying facilities are available but because of the age and fragility of a large proportion of the collection there may be many instances when photocopying is not possible.