16 years between the laying of the foundation stone in 1982 and the opening in 1998. The Independent explains the delay: "The reason it has taken so long to build ... has relatively little to do with the competence, or otherwise, of architect and contractors. The project has been toyed with by successive governments. The building was designed for a different site in Bloomsbury. Time was wasted when it had to be redesigned to fit the eventual site alongside St Pancras Station. Successive governments have trimmed the budget. Each time they have done so, Colin St John Wilson and his team have had to redesign parts of the building."
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
British Library
Commemorated ati
British Library- Foundation Stone
The British Library H.R.H. The Prince of Wales unveiled this stone 7 Decembe...
Opening of the British Library
This inscription is opposite the entrance, below the Shakespeare statue.
This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
British Library
Creations i
British Library - Anne Frank
The tree itself is almost entirely lost, half buried in a modern planting sch...
Other Subjects
St Bride Foundation Institute
Established to meet the educational, cultural and social needs of a community working within the burgeoning print industry of the Victorian era. The Londonphile has visited and photographed the in...
Group, Journalism / Publishing, Museums / Libraries, Theatre
1 memorial
Crystal Palace
Originally erected in Hyde Park to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was on the section south of Rotten Row and east of West Carriage Drive with the mid-point opposite Rutland Gate. The cast-...
Building, Architecture, Commerce, Museums / Libraries, Music / songs, TV & Radio
4 memorials
J. Duff-Brown
Islington Librarian in 1906. We believe he also published books on librarianship.
1 memorial
Shepherd's Bush Library
One of a number of libraries founded by the philanthropist John Passmore Edwards. The building fell into disuse after a new library was opened as part of the nearby Westfield London development. It...
1 memorial
Sir John Summerson
Museum curator and architectural historian. Born John Newenham Summerson at Barnstead, Coniscliffe Road, Darlington. He taught at Edinburgh College of Art, and had professorships at Oxford and Camb...
1 memorial
Previously viewed
Elizabeth Fry
Prison reformer. Born as Elizabeth Gurney in Norwich into a Quaker banking family. Priscilla Wakefield was her aunt. She first visited Newgate prison in 1813 and was appalled at the conditions of ...
2 memorials
George, Duke of Kent
Son of George V. Born York Cottage, Sandringham. Honorary member of Lincoln's Inn. 1934 created Duke of Kent and married Marina. Rumoured to have had affairs with Jessie Matthews and Noel Coward. D...
War dead, WW2
3 memorials
Mercury Theatre
Founded by Ashley Dukes as a new stage for plays by poets. The plaque gives 1931 as the start date, but Wikipedia gives 1933. Possibly for those first 3 years it was a home for the Ballet Club an...
1 memorial
John Logie Baird
Born in "The Lodge" in Helensburgh, near Glasgow. Inventor of mechanical television. Picture of him demonstrating a prototype at Selfridges, 1925. Died in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex.
8 memorials
Sir George Gilbert Scott
Architect. Born in Gawcott, Buckinghamshire. Often styled 'Sir Gilbert Scott'. His London work includes: St Giles' Church in Camberwell, St Mary Abbots in Kensington, the Albert Memorial in Kensing...
6 memorials
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