To the Lambeth Palace Library! …on Wednesday afternoon I had a spare half hour or so whilst I was in the surrounds of SE11.
It was with good timing as well as it is the final week of the exhibition Mariners, Religion, Race and Empire.
Don’t let the title put you off. Entering into the Lambeth Palace Library is always an event in itself. It’s essentially a new build bolted on to the incredibly historic Lambeth Palace Gaff next door.
The library itself offers up some quite unique views of what is otherwise a hidden and enclosed space of the Lambeth Palace Gardens.
You can gaze out of the main windows in the library and it’s impossible to tell that you are actually on the banks of the Thames in central London.
As the title of the exhibition suggests, this is a brief guided tour documenting issues connected to race and mariners.
As you would expect from the Lambeth Palace Archives, Christianity is a strong thread throughout. The exhibition draws upon documents within the church archive showing a Christian approach to the wellbeing of mariners from an ethnic background.
The role of women is also explored. You soon find that the church and women in particular were keen to champion the cause of people of colour who were called up to sea.
It’s a very tight and compact exhibition. I found myself spending a little too much time reading the descriptions of the artefacts rather than looking at the actual historical documents themselves. It’s me that’s got the problem, not the Lambeth Palace Archives.
I was intrigued to read about the Floating Church Society. When the discussion came to temperance and how to limit the availability of alcohol at sea, I found myself drifting slightly.
A worthwhile way to spend 50 minutes or so in a particularly splendid and unique South London setting.
