Loughborough Parish Library

James Bickham was an eighteenth century scholar and rector of Loughborough from 1761 to 1785. An avid reader, he bequeathed his extensive ‘library’ of books to Loughborough Parish, and it remained in the town for almost two hundred years.

After being stored in several places, the collection was eventually deposited in the University of Nottingham’s Manuscripts and Special Collections, where it remains today.

The Loughborough Parish Library can be viewed by any member of the public in the Reading Room of the Manuscripts and Special Collections department on Nottingham University’s King’s Meadow Campus. You can find out about opening times here. 

Our thanks go to Ursula Ackrill of Nottingham University for bringing Reverend Bickham’s story to our attention and for letting us have the following articles about his library:

Loughborough Parish Library (1): what is it and where is it now?

Loughborough Parish Library (2): poor rates and bookplates

Loughborough Parish Library (3): curator James Bickham (1719-1785)

Loughborough Parish Library (4): The battle between the ancients and the moderns – which side is the LPL on?

Loughborough Parish Library (5) A What-if Story from Loughborough’s Old Rectory

Click here to view a gallery of 114 pages from books in the Loughborough Parish Library, digitised by Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham.

Here are some further articles you can read about James Bickham and his books:

So Who Was the Revd James Bickham? by Lynne Dyer

Revd James Bickham’s Library by Lynne Dyer – see where the library was stored in All Saints Church

Revd James Bickham’s home by Lynne Dyer

The Old Rectory and the Bonfire of Books by David Taylor