by Lisa Di Tommaso | May 17, 2026 | Images, Morrab Library, News, Photographic Archive
Hello readers!
My name is Samuel Hill, and I’m a History PhD student from the University of Exeter. As a requirement of my PhD being funded by the ESRC SWDTP (Economic and Social Research Centre Southwest Doctoral Training Program), I have the requirement of undertaking a three months’ work placement within any institution of my choice – with my choice being Morrab Library!
My main historical interests are the social history of the southwest, with my thesis exploring the lives of maritime communities in Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly between 1750 and 1899. My thesis is exploring the various acts of resistance like smuggling, wrecking, and food rioting during times of social and economic hardship.
The reason I chose the Morrab Library for my work placement was simple. Throughout my studies, I have made numerous trips to Penzance to use the library’s broad collection of historical documents and books. Like many who use the library, I have a great fondness for the library’s incredible building, gardens, and the amazing staff who have always made me feel very welcome and supported!
My role within the library will see me work within the Morrab’s Photo Archive. The archive possesses over 17,000 photos from the local area and beyond, and it beautifully details a wide range of subjects including agriculture, community life, hobbies, leisure, working lives, schools and youth groups, transport, and even a good section on cats!
Fortunately for me, the Photo Archive possesses a broad range of photographs that beautifully illustrate the lives of maritime communities within the region. My role will be to continue to update the tags and descriptions of the collection, with my particular focus being on the fascinating range of shipwreck photos. During my time here, I will be writing blogs, an article, and deliver a talk that uses the photographic evidence to illustrate the lived experiences of these unique communities.
I hope that these blogs are of particular interest to visitors of the library and that the photos you see within the blogs inspire you to have a look at the collection! You can view them here via this link: https://morrablibrary.org.uk/photo-archive/
The Photo Archives team are available to visit in the library on Thursday mornings between 10.00am and 1.00pm, so drop in to say hello and find out more about the collections.
by Lisa Di Tommaso | May 14, 2026 | Blog, Events, News
We were delighted to host a visit from His Royal Highness Prince Richard, The Duke of Gloucester, as he visited Penzance, accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho.
The Duke met staff, volunteers and members, and was given a tour of our beautiful building and its collections. Lisa put on a display of some of the treasures from the rare books, archive and historic newspaper collections, and David Puddifoot spoke with the Duke about our photographic archive, after which he enjoyed lunch with us.
Honorary Librarian Harry Spry-Leverton, said: “It was an enormous privilege to welcome His Royal Highness, The Duke of Gloucester to the Library today, to meet our staff and volunteers, and to inspect some of the treasures, archives and books in our collections built up over some two hundred years. The Morrab Library is Cornwall’s only independent library, one of less than fifty now across the country, and this Royal visit both confers recognition and will be remembered as a memorable and historic occasion.”
The Duke also paid a visit to our wonderful neighbours at the Gardener’s House, and took a stroll around the Morrab Gardens in the sunshine.
We loved the opportunity (as ever!) to share the story of our library, to talk about the unique collections and to celebrate the Morrab Library community.
Special thanks to the Gardener’s House for their help and support in coordinating the visit, and to Lavender’s Deli in Alverton St. for their delicious catering.
by Lisa Di Tommaso | Dec 5, 2025 | Blog, Morrab Library, News
Photo: Ian Kingsnorth
We are excited to say that The Sunday Times has named The Morrab Library as one of the UK’s most enchanting libraries! We are in some illustrious company too.
Of course, it’s no secret to those who already know about our beloved library, but now many more people know too!
by Harriet-Jade | Jun 27, 2022 | Blog, Culture, Events, News, World
Morrab Library’s inaugural poetry competition is sponsored by The Dennis Myner Trust which continues the legacy of member and invaluable contributor to the library’s longevity – Dennis Myner.
Who was Dennis Myner?
Dennis Myner was born in London in 1927. During WWII, his family moved to St. Albans where he later qualified as an architect. He moved to Penzance for his mother’s health in the late 1950s and in the early 1960s built his own house in St. Ives, where he set up his architectural practice.
Dennis frequented the Morrab Library’s Photo Archive during his retirement where he would purchase photographs to recreate in paint. This fervent hobby was encouraged by his sister, Patricia Eschen, who bought him his first set of oils and brushes when he retired, saying that he would need something to keep him busy! He set himself the goal of painting 300 pictures and had reached an impressive total of 753 just a few months before he died.
Dennis dedicated the latter part of his life to supporting Morrab Library and it became his life’s ambition to help ensure its future was secure. An incredibly determined man, he devoted fifteen years to obtaining planning permission for a much-needed extension to the Library which was completed in 2013.
When Dennis passed away in 2012 he left hundreds of his paintings to the library, a selection of which are on display in the Photo Archive. Our lovely volunteer, David Sleeman wrote a fascinating blog about the history of one of the scenes that Dennis depicted which you can read here.
Our new poetry competition at the Library, the Patricia Eschen Prize for Poetry, acknowledges the generous support of Dennis’ beloved older sister and only sibling – Patricia Eschen. Patricia was outgoing and well-travelled and despite living in California for most of her adult life, she would return to Cornwall to visit Dennis regularly.
She loved the Arts and attended the opera, ballet and museums around the world wherever she travelled. The Library’s Art Room is named in her honour, and the prize will continue her patronage of the arts.
Patricia was instrumental in Dennis taking up oil painting. Many of the photographs from her travels were used as subject matter for his artwork, as well as photographs he purchased from the Morrab Library Photo Archive. Without her encouragement of his painting, Dennis would not have visited the library and hence there would be no Dennis Myner Trust today.
How do The Myner Trust help the Library today?
The Dennis Myner Trust helps to support the library through donations which are used to fund projects such as the bespoke conservation-grade photographic storage cabinets, computers, and professional scanning equipment in the Photo Archive, which has proved invaluable in our ongoing digitisation programme.
We are delighted to be able to launch the international poetry competition – ‘Patricia Eschen Prize for Poetry’ – from our very special library here in Penzance.
Our Library members have always shown a fervour for poetry – our earliest archive records reveal that poetry has been purchased for the library since our establishment in 1818. We have a thriving poetry group and a dedicated Poetry Room in the library. We are looking forward to shining a spotlight on poetry through our new competition this summer at the Morrab and we would not be able to do so without the support of the Dennis Myner Trust.
by admin | Jul 20, 2021 | Blog, News
Morrab Library is open to members (and their guests), but not to visitors, at this time. Here are our current opening arrangements:
- We are open Tuesday to Saturday 10.00am – 4.00pm.
- You no longer need to make an appointment to visit the library to borrow books.
- We continue to take room bookings for the first floor, so you can reserve a desk at which to work. Reserved desks are labelled accordingly, so if you haven’t pre-booked but find a table that has not been reserved, you are welcome to use that.
- Entry to the library is via the reception room where we’ll ask you to sign in for track and trace purposes, or use the mobile app to scan your location using the QR code.
- While it is no longer mandatory to wear a face covering whilst moving around the building, staff will continue to do so – please consider doing so as well. This is so that everyone may feel safe when visiting, and will also reduce the risk of closure. Hand sanitiser is also freely available throughout the building.
- Library books should be returned to staff and volunteers at the reception desk.
- The Photo Archive is open on Thursday mornings to members and visitors by appointment. Please arrange this in advance by emailing photoarchive@morrablibrary.org.uk, or calling the library to pass on a message to the team.
- The members’ common is partially reopened, and it is possible to make a cup of tea or coffee in the kitchen and take it with you around the building as before. At this stage however, it isn’t possible to remain in the kitchen beyond preparing your drink.
by admin | May 19, 2021 | Blog, Morrab Library, News
We thought you’d like to know about a rather significant milestone in the history of Morrab Library. Friday the 14th May saw us catalogue our first library book into KOHA, our new online library system.
Member, volunteer and former Chair Peter Chapman had the honour of barcoding the first of our many thousands of books, and adding the record to our catalogue – it was Annabelle Abbs’ Frieda, by the way!
This is a small but important step in our aim to improve access to our collections. By making our books searchable online, you will all be able to truly discover the extent, and the magic, of our collections, even the ones on the high shelves!
You’ll have to be patient though – we have a lot of books, so it will be quite a number of years before we have completed the retrospective project, but we do feel it’s worth the effort involved! There won’t be any changes to the way you search for or borrow books just now, but we will provide regular updates on progress.
The project is currently in its pilot phase (starting with the fiction collection), with Peter and our Honorary Librarian, Harry Spry-Leverton, testing things for us, but soon we will be looking to recruit some more volunteers to help with the cataloguing, so we’ll put the call out when we’re ready.
A big thank you to Sue Garwood, our Assistant Librarian, who used the lockdown periods very productively coming to terms with KOHA, and to Dr Vivian Cothey, member and cataloguing expert, for his brilliant advice and guidance.
