Plans to build a new library housing the largest collection of religious material outside the Vatican have got the official go-ahead at the Archbishop of Canter

The nine-story tower will become the first new building to appear on the grounds of the Grade I-listed Lambeth Palace in central London for two centuries.

Speaking about the collection the new library will eventually house, Declan Kelly at Lambeth Palace was quoted by the Guardian as saying: "It includes books and manuscripts collected by archbishops down the centuries, and the modern collection is the archive of the Church of England."

The new Lambeth Palace Library has been granted planning permission. Find out more here → https://t.co/XY0BkyoaGY @lampallib pic.twitter.com/bF24HHIitV — Lambeth Palace ن (@lambethpalace) April 20, 2017

"There are maps and books, even a book on mathematics written by one archbishop. It covers periods of great religious turmoil across Europe and really important parts of this country's history."

Building work will start early next year and is expected to be finished in 2020.

The new library, which will be open to the public, will boast the sole surviving copy of Mary Queen of Scot's execution warrant issued by Elizabeth I in 1857.