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
Public Record Office
Known as ‘The Strong Box of the Empire’, the Public Record Office was created as a repository for parliamentary records after the 1834 fire which destroyed much of the Palace of Westminster, where ...
National Maritime Museum
One of a trio of Greenwich museums, the others being the Royal Observatory and the Queen's House.
Group, Armed Forces, History, Museums / Libraries, Transport
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
Earl of Ellesmere, Francis Egerton
Politician, poet, founding trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. One of the Commissioners for the Great Exhibition, 1951. Born 21 Arlington Street, Piccadilly. Died Bridgewater House, London. ...
Person, Literature, Museums / Libraries, Poetry, Politics & Administration
Frederick Horniman
Tea merchant, benefactor and politician. Born Frederick John Horniman at Bridgwater, Somerset. He inherited his father's tea business, which by 1891 was described as the biggest tea firm in the wor...
Person, Benefactor, Commerce, Museums / Libraries, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, India, Sri Lanka
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