Nine representatives of the Friends of LMP have visited Worcester Cathedral Library, where they were shown a wide range of the Library’s treasures by the Cathedral Librarian, David Morrison. With over 300 manuscripts and 5000 books it is second only to Durham Cathedral in the wealth of its collection. Among the items viewed by the group were:
* King John’s will – the oldest extant royal will in England
* agreements between the Prior of Little Malvern and Bishop Giffard in the twelfth century
* the Worcester Antiphoner – a liturgical service book of the 1230s and the only such book from a Benedictine monastery to survive the reformation, and
* 8th century texts found in book bindings.
All those visiting for the first time agreed that the collection well surpassed their expectations.
The photo shows one of the documents viewed: an agreement from the late 1200s between on the one hand John, Prior, and Convent of Church of St Giles at Little Malvern, and on the other Godfrey Giffard, Bishop of Worcester.