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
Major Ernest Edward Austen, DSO
Ernest Edward Austen was born in 1867 in Dalston, Middlesex (now Greater London), the eldest of the five children of Ambrose Austen (1838-1924) and Eliza Burnet Austen née Smith (1839-1916). His bi...
Leyton Library
Designed by John Knight, this originally opened as Leyton Town Hall. It was outgrown and a replacement town hall was built next door in 1896. The empty building was later repurposed as a library.
Building, Museums / Libraries, Politics & Administration, Property
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...
Rotherhithe Picture Research Library
An educational charity, opened as part of Sands Films Studio, and situated in the same Grade II listed building. The library is home to thousands of old photographs, postcards and magazines. Pictur...
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. ...
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