Muswell Hill Public Library

TQ 2889 QUEEN'S AVENUE (south side) 800-/21/10009 Muswell Hill Public library II

Public library. 1931 by W H Adams for Hornsey Borough Council. Red and brown brick with stone dressings, flat roof. Rectangular plan of two storeys, the lower for adults and the upper for children - this with central four-bay raised attic and skylights. Three bay main frontage has deep plinth, a giant order of pilasters, cornice, frieze and pediment, with central double panelled doors flanked by giant volute brackets and carriage lamps. Over it are arrayed the Hornsey Borough arms and the date - 1931 - in stone surround linking door with first-floor window. The flanking windows are similarly paired vertically, but have between them raised stone panels inset into contrasting brickwork. This motif is repeated on the first bay of the side elevations; these also have a giant order, but have brown brick panels at first-floor level and clerestorey glazing in raised attic. All windows have metal glazing with margin lights and diagonal panes in various patterns. The interior has an elaborate iron stair leading to children's library. This room is significant for the survival of its panelling, some original shelving and especially for a deep frieze of murals painted by the Hornsey School of Art in 1937-8; they are the earliest mural decorations known to survive in a children's library, - once a popular repository for mural painting as a device to encourage learning, but now rare. The murals depict local scenes through the ages, and were the work of J B Shaw, D Fuller, R Woodward, G Makins and Miss W M Gamlen of-the Hornsey School of-Art.

Listing NGR: TQ2871689665