Vaughan Williams Memorial Library

The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library stands as the national archive for English folk music and dance. Its origins date back to nineteen thirty, when it opened as the Cecil Sharp Library to house the personal book collection of the influential folklorist Cecil Sharp. His daughter, Joan, served as the library's very first librarian. In nineteen forty, during the Second World War, the building housing the collection was struck by four bombs, yet the library miraculously remained intact.