At the time of the Restoration the Stanleys claimed the property of which they had been dispossessed by the Parliament, but made no difficulty about regranting to the feoffees that part of it occupied by the new School and Library. For the Library as well as the School had been already founded, since after making sufficient provision for the maintenance of the Hospital, the feoffees had money in hand which they spent in the purchase of books, thus forming the nucleus of the first free library in England. To this collection books have been added by gift, bequest, and purchase, so that the library now contains about 60,000 volumes. The books can be consulted free of charge during certain hours of the day, but are not allowed to be removed from the building. The general public, however, does not make much use of the library, as it does not contain the light and ephemeral literature that appeals to modern taste; but the student who desires to read up some special subject will find many valuable books and manuscripts to aid him in his work. Among the rare books is a copy of the historical compilations of Matthew Paris, with marginal corrections in the author's handwriting.
There is much matter to be found on these shelves dealing with the antiquities and history of Lancashire and Cheshire. Canon Raine bequeathed a fine series of Lancashire manuscripts; besides these may be seen a collection of broadsides, formed by Mr. T. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, and the library of John Byrom. In the last named collection is the final draft of the well-known hymn, "Christians, awake; salute the happy morn." Among the other books there are some fine specimens of Caxton's printing.
We leave the churchyard, cross the street that skirts it to the north, and pass through a small doorway in the wall at the opposite side of the street, and so enter the play-ground of Chetham's Hospital. On our left hand as we make our way to the original building, we pass the modern schoolroom, which stands by itself. This, like many other buildings in Manchester, was designed by A. Waterhouse, R.A. The main building runs east and west, with projecting wings at either end. Near the eastern wing we notice the old entrance gateway, and the modern staircase leading up to what was the "hospitium" or guest-house. This has been converted into a dormitory for the boys. The most interesting part of the College is to be found in the western wing, of which an illustration is given, p. [63]. The three windows crossed by transoms are those of the hall; the lower windows to the left of these belong to the audit room, the upper to the warden's private room, now the reading-room of the library. The building to the extreme left contains the library on the upper floor, and offices on the lower.
There is a long corridor, shown in the illustration below, running from east and west of the building; it can be entered by a door at its eastern end not shown in the illustration on p. [63]. After entering this, as we proceed towards the west we pass on the right hand the fine kitchen; it has an open timbered roof about 35 feet from floor to ridge, and measures 29 feet in length and 17 in width; beyond this, on the same side, are two doors giving entrance to the cellar, where the warden and Fellows kept their wine, the buttery or rather butlery. Opposite this, on the left hand side, is the Hall; its north end is partially closed by massive screens of black oak. It has windows on the east and west. One of those on the west gives light to a staircase with Jacobean balusters, which, starting in a direction parallel to the west wall of the hall, turns round and gives access to the upper story.
As we still pass westward we come to the cloister on the left hand, and the old infirmary on the right; and a door still further on leads out into a garden, where the fish pond was formerly situated; in this the fish required for Fridays and other days of abstinence were kept. Caught in other water—the streams of Irwell and Irk probably—they were brought here and stored so that they could always be caught without difficulty when required for the table.
The cloister is small and has only three walks, the one to the north forming part of the corridor which has been just described; the one to the west is terminated at its south end by an iron gate; and the walk on the south leads to, and is terminated by the entrance to the audit room. From the west walk (illustration, p. [83]) an archway leads into the cloister itself. This is a very secluded spot, and the walls show signs of great age. This cloister has one peculiarity: the walks already described have other walks or corridors over them. Over the south walk is a corridor leading by what was St. Mary's Chapel into the warden's room; the corridor over the west walk opened out into what was once the dormitory, now filled with bookcases; the walk over the long eastern corridor below gave access to the old refectory, which has now been divided into living-rooms for the governor and the librarian.