The Kennedy Grant Library at Halsway Manor

The Kennedy Grant Library at Halsway Manor is a multimedia collection of folklore, customs, traditional folk music, dance and song mostly from Britain. Its strength is in the English folk tradition, particularly of the south west of England. The library was established at Halsway in 1965 with the collection of folk enthusiast and organiser Margaret Grant and was substantially added to in 2007 by the bequest of the book and audio collection of folklorist and folk song collector Peter Kennedy.

You can search our library catalogue by SUBJECT, AUTHOR or by TITLE

There are about 10,000 items consisting of books, pamphlets, journals and audio recordings in various formats, DVD’s, videos, artifacts and original manuscripts and documents including the William Winter manuscript of early 19th century tunes and a collection of material from Somerset folklorist Ruth Tongue. 

We particularly welcome visitors of all ages to the library for research and study purposes. Loans can be arranged through our librarian. Enquiries 01984 618274 or EMAIL.

Halsway Manor has published the early 19th century tune collection of West Somerset fiddle player William Winter and some of the work of folklorist and storyteller Ruth Tongue.

If you wish to donate material to the Kennedy Grant Library please contact the Chief Executive 01984 618274 or EMAIL.