Stoke Newington Library

The Stoke Newington Library was built in 1892 by Bridgman and Goss, with an extension in 1904 by Goss funded by Andrew Carnegie, and further alterations in 1922-3 by A.G. Porri. It is a public library constructed of red brick with stone dressings and a tiled roof. The building is two storeys high, with a central five-window range bearing the inscription “PUBLIC LIBRARY” on a first-floor band. This is flanked by three-storey gabled wings; the ground floors of which feature opening top-lights and blind boxes, while the first floors have casements. A double-panelled door sits to the left of the main façade, accessed via a heavy stone porch with a balustrade supported by console brackets. A 1922-3 extension to the right houses the War Memorial Hall and the current entrance. This entrance features double doors set within a rectangular surround, displaying the borough arms above a shallow niche inscribed “PRO PATRIA”; this is set between pilasters supporting an open segmental pediment. A plinth with bronze wreaths flanking the dates 1914-18 sits below. A similar composition is found on the return elevation. Flat pilasters and square metal ground-floor casements denote the 1904 extension. The Memorial Hall’s interior features a marble floor, stone-faced walls with pilasters and entablature, alabaster panels inscribed with the names of the borough's war dead, and a vaulted roof supporting an oval glazed dome with an original hanging light. An entablature over the doorway leading to the library interior is inscribed “ALL YE WHO PASS IN QUEST OF HAPPY HOURS, BEHOLD THE PRICE AT WHICH THESE HOURS WERE BOUGHT.” The 1904 extension included a lecture hall and children's room, funded by Andrew Carnegie, and was opened in October 1925 by Councillor C. Maude Eve. The building is recognised as an early and good example of a borough library, notable for its exceptional war memorial hall.