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Historic discovery during building project

An unbelievable discovery has been made during Hertford’s major building project. The Library team reports on this incredible find.

Simpkin the cat staring at a tiny door between bookshelves

Hertford Library is currently undergoing a major library renovation project and has moved to a temporary library in Holywell Quad to continue offering 24/7 study spaces, core texts and support from library staff throughout the building works. During the creation of the temporary Holywell Library, a historic library reading room has been unearthed. The Librarian recounts:

‘While we were installing the shelves in the Holywell Library and we found a very unusual, small door. We couldn’t have imagined what lay beyond it!’

Conservation expert Ekoja Sti was called in to investigate further. ‘We couldn’t find a key small enough to open the door. Then we realised it was a special eighteenth century library door that only unlocks if you whisper gently to it. Once we spoke to it in our special library voice, it opened up and we were able to explore an unbelievable room.’

Close up of historic looking wooden door with black metal finishing. Door has a white wall around it and modern wooden vinyl on floor in front.
The uncovered door
Two set of tall white book shelves with modern books. In between the two shelves is a gap with a tiny historic looking wooden door.
Simpkin the black cat stares at the small bit
Simpkin investigates

Behind the door was the only known example of a guinea pig library. Historian A.P. Rilfule describes this discover as ‘mindblowing’. It is thought that the space was created during the Hart Hall era of Hertford College’s history. In the 1720s the great ‘guinea pig companion craze’ hit Oxford and many students and fellows brought a furry companion with them to Hart Hall.

Artist’s impression of how the guinea pig library may have looked (1)

The space has significantly degraded over the centuries, but the remnants of the original shelves, desks and books have survived. Tiny titles found on the shelves include ‘The Art of Magick as Practiced by the Most Honourable Knight of the Realm, Sir Cavia Porcellus’, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and ‘Around the World in 80 Wheeks’. The team have also found a copy of Hobbes’ Leviathan with an inscription in an unknown 18th century hand on the front fly leaf reading ‘To the Guinea Pigges of Harte Hall, for truly life is nasty, short and brutish.’ The library team will use specialist magnifying tools when cataloguing these titles.

For more information about the library’s major renovation project visit https://www.hertford2030.co.uk/.

(1) Created using images: Guinea pig by pulgoman/OpenClipArt, Wooden Table from Glitch by annares/OpenClipArt, Graduation cap by GJP/OpenClipArt, Library background National Library in Vienna/Rawpixel