Westminster Abbey library | Books, records, documents & more

There are 14,000 books printed before 1801, 60 manuscripts from the medieval period, and a huge manuscript music collection. The most famous include the Litlington missal volumes, Liber Regalis, and the prayer book of Lady Margaret Beaufort, and modern collections like the history of Westminster Abbey, Saint Margaret’s Church, and British coronations.

The main attraction is the Muniment collection which includes records of land held by the abbey, financial records of administrations of monarchs, Royal charters, minutes of the Chapter meetings, records of leased abbey properties, records of coronations and funerals, documents in Hebrew, and records of the coroner's inquest in Westminster during 1760-1880.

The Westminster Abbey record series was created in 1997. These documents are mostly related to the abbey and its history and include records, calendars, lists, and indexes. The intention behind making these records is to provide the contents of the collection of the abbey to the general public and scholars who need the resources for academic purposes.

The abbey has an extensive cataloging and indexing system for its medieval, early modern, and most of its modern archives. Westminster Domesday, Liber Niger, and St. Martin Le Grand are the 3 main medieval cartularies. There are also indexes for collections and leased books. The Abbey is also setting up a digital database with a separate index for the library’s contents.

These include coroner's inquests, Manor and the court rolls, denizens' rolls, and the list of Church of England clergy. The coroner’s inquiries cover judicial inquisitions from 1760 to 1799. The court rolls keep a record of manors, rent paid, and tenants. The 160-foot-long denizens’ rolls were useful in keeping a record of the population and the immigrants of the country.