Southwark Central Library And Cuming Museum

Southwark Central Library and Cuming Museum is a public library and museum built in phases between 1892 and 1906. The library was designed by the architect Edward I'Anson, with J Grover and Sons as the builders, and was constructed using parish rates through a special vestry committee. The museum was a gift from Henry Syer Cuming, in memory of his father Richard.

The building is constructed of red brick in Flemish bond, with stone and terracotta dressings, and slate roofs. It is designed in a Dutch Renaissance Revival style.

The library section is four storeys over a basement, rising to five storeys over the centre, which features a scroll gable. It has a four-window range, with a single-storey library wing and entrance projecting to the pavement line, topped with a parapeted roof. Ground-floor openings are round-arched, with the entrance set under a gabled aedicule supported by scroll brackets, bearing the inscription "Newington Public Library." A stone entablature and parapet decorate the single-storey projection, and a stone springing band runs above all windows. First and second-floor windows are grouped under two-storey basket arches, the first flat-arched and the second round-arched. A storey band sits between the first and second floors, while a springing band is present above the second floor. Keystones of the basket arches intersect an entablature which forms the sill band to the third-floor windows, which are flat-arched and doubled. The bays of the third floor are separated by pilasters, with an entablature and dentil cornice above the lintels. The central bays extend above the parapet, terminating in a Dutch scroll gable pierced by flat-arched windows within a three-bay Tuscan aedicule, and featuring a small keyed roundel at the peak. Finials mark the bays above the parapet. A cupola sits on the building’s axis with the gable, and roundel dormers flank the gable. Clustered stacks are visible on the fire walls. A 1914-1918 war memorial plaque is on the short left return. A plaque to the left of the entrance commemorates the laying of the foundation stone and lists the commissioners, architect, and builder.

The museum is located at the rear of the complex and is accessed via a staircase with a handrail and balusters of original design. The stair hall features a half-barrel vault supported by arched braces. The museum space itself is a barrel-vaulted hall, with a rebuilt ceiling, two storeys high, running parallel to Walworth Road. The library and former Vestry Hall, located on Walworth Road, form a significant group of buildings.