Historic medieval music manuscript returns to Reading for the first time in nearly 500 years

Often cited as the earliest known English song with surviving music, the joyful celebration of spring and new life has deep resonance in Reading, where its legacy still echoes from school music lessons to the stone plaque in the Chapter House of the Abbey Ruins.

The manuscript, one of the most celebrated pieces of medieval English music, is believed to have been created at Reading Abbey in the mid-13th century. It contains the earliest known example of a six part polyphonic round and opens with the well-known‑ Middle English lines: “Sumer is icumen in / lhude sing cuccu” – “Summer has arrived / Loudly sing, cuckoo!”

As part of the British Library’s Living Knowledge Network, Reading Libraries enabled conversations that made this loan, part of the wider British Library on Tour programme possible, with support from The Dorset Foundation. However, the Reading Rota is displayed at Reading Museum, which meets the specialist environmental, security, and conservation requirements for displaying such a rare object.

Appropriately, it will be shown in The Story of Reading gallery, within the Reading Abbey displays, in its own dedicated case just metres from the Abbey Quarter where it was likely composed over 750 years ago.

Cllr Adele Barnett-Ward, Lead Councillor for Leisure and Culture, said:
“It is a delight and privilege to welcome the Reading Rota home after nearly five centuries. This extraordinary manuscript is not only one of the jewels of medieval English music, but a powerful reminder of Reading’s international significance in the Middle Ages. Many of us will have learned  ‘Sumer is icumen in’ at school, and some of us are old enough to recognise the tune from Bagpuss, and having the original manuscript here in the town where it was created is a truly special moment. As we look ahead to opening our new Central Library this summer, it feels wonderfully fitting to celebrate a piece of Reading’s creative heritage that literally sings about the arrival of brighter days.”

Head of Culture Programmes at the British Library, Helen Schulte, said: “We're so thrilled to be lending Reading Libraries and Museums the ‘Sumer is icumen in’ manuscript, as part of our programme, British Library on Tour, which shares special items from the national collection with people across the UK. We are thankful to The Dorset Foundation for their support of this programme and we can’t wait for visitors to Reading Museum to see the 'Reading Rota' manuscript in the very place it’s believed to have been created in, over 700 years ago. ”

The Reading Rota has influenced generations of musicians and has appeared in works as varied as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Wicker Man (1973), and the beloved children’s series Bagpuss (1974).

Reading Museum has previously explored the manuscript’s significance through the online exhibition From music to magic: Reading Abbey’s most famous manuscript, developed with Professor Anne Lawrence-Mathers, University of Reading. This exhibition remains available at:
https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/online-exhibitions/from-music-magic-reading-abbeys-most-famous-manuscript

The manuscript will be on display at Reading Museum from 10 March to 9 May 2026 www.readingmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/sumer-icumen