Lewisham Public Library

LEWISHAM HIGH STREET TQ 3774

779-/18/10018 Lewisham Public Library

II

Public Library. 1901 by Alexander Hennell, extended 1929. Red brick with extensive terracotta dressings, slate roof Central entrance oftwo storeys and attic, with banded chimney stack on south side, flanked by single-storey side ranges of four bays each. Side elevations two windows with pedimental end to clerestorey; main lending library set at rear, also of two bays with clerestorey, this in hipped roof. Entrance doors set within arched flame inscribed 'PUBLIC LIBRARY', reached up steps set withjaunty iron railings. Tripartite window over with broken pediment; the windowsill with scrolled, shouldered surround and linked by dramatic voussoir to the door below. Other windows to front and return elevations all with shouldered surrounds over scroll-flanked aprons. Interior with barrell-vaulted lending library under clerestorey with coloured glass, behind a sequence of top-lit reference rooms and offices to front. The earliest of Lewisham's distinctive group of terracotta-embellished libraries: a strong, clear composition with a well-lit interior and good use of materials.

Listing NGR: TQ3790574717