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
Thomas Layton
Councillor for over 50 years and was Chairman of the Brentford Local Board from 1876 and first Chairman of the Brentford Urban District Council in 1894. FSA, Chairman Brentford Library Committee. ...
1 memorial
Henry Buxton Forman
Born Camden Place, Southampton Street, Camberwell. Bibliographer and forger. An authority on the lives and works of Shelley and Keats. He also had a lifelong career in the Post Office and was award...
Person, Journalism / Publishing, Literature, Museums / Libraries, Politics & Administration
1 memorial
Chauncy Hare Townshend
Collector, dilettante, ordained clergyman, mesmerist, and hypochondriac (list from Wikipedia). Born Godalming into a wealthy family. Famous for his 1821 meeting with the poet John Clare (whom he i...
1 memorial
Great Exhibition
From the V&A website: "The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations was held in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. It was the first international exhibition of manufacture...
13 memorials
Westminster Library
In 1856 the Vestry Council of St Margaret and St John in Westminster provided premises for a public library as described in the 1855 Public Libraries Act, thus beating other London parishes by 30 y...
1 memorial
Previously viewed
War dead, WW2
1 memorial
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
John Payton
A local business man, he had the vision to create Camden Passage antiques market in the early 1960s. We can't prove that he was also a sculptor but his surname is inscribed on the Cruden relief bus...
1 memorial
William Donald
Crew member of the 'Olga'. Died during the voyage bringing Cleopatra's Needle to London.
1 memorial
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
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