THE ENVIRONMENT TRUST'S SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT FOR THE LISTING OF THE RICHMOND LENDING LIBRARY

Richmond Public Lending Library

1. The Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames believes that there is a strong case for the listing of Richmond's public lending library, on grounds of historical importance, architectural interest and group value. Our reasons are set out below.

2. The library is one of a group of mainly late Victorian buildings on the south east side of Little Green, next to Richmond Theatre. It is within a designated conservation area.

Historic interest

3. Richmond's library is believed to be the oldest public library in outer London (Pevsner, South London. p. 464). The administrative parish of Richmond was the first local authority in the outer London area to adopt new legislation giving authorities powers to provide public libraries. The library was built in 1879-81 to designs by Frederick S.Brunton of Richmond, surveyor to the local authority. The contractor was J.J.Osborne of Turnham Green. As a new building of architectural interest the library was illustrated and described in a short article in The Builder magazine of26 March 1881 (see Annex A).

4. The building was enlarged by extension at the rear in the same style in 1886. It has been in virtually continuous use as a public library. Originally its functions were three-fold: as a reference library, a lending library, and a 'newsroom~ for the reading of current newspapers. Over the years the lending function grew in importance and since April 1987, when the Central Reference Library was moved to The Old Town Hall, the building has been entirely used as a lending library.

Architectural interest

5. The building has two parts. The main facade, facing the south-east side of Little Green, is a high three-storey building of brick with stone dressings, in a broadly Gothic style. There is a frontispiece with steep central gable, an upper window with attached columns and foliated capitals, and a large square entrance porch with a stone parapet and a coat of arms in the central panel. Above the window, in stone, are the words: "Free Public Library, 1880".

6. Within the entrance porch is an arched and ribbed quasi-medieval doorway, leading to a small vestibule and then to the library. The main architectural experience of the building is the passage through this heavy and dark entrance into the relatively light and airy library beyond - a successful contrast.

7. The parts of the facade to the left and right of the frontispiece have square-headed sash windows with restrained Gothic details, lighting offices and storerooms.

8. The library itself runs at right angles to the main facade and has a different character. It is a single space, similar in some respects to the nave of a church or chapel, of cast iron structure with vaguely Tudor arches along each side, opening into spaces for the storage and display of books. The arches have short columns and foliated capitals. There is a large central space free of any obstruction.

9. The library is lit by a large rooflight running the length of the central space. This floods the room with daylight and enables maximum use to be made of the side walls for the shelving of books.

10. As a whole, the building successfully fulfils two roles: it has an appropriately dignified facade for an important civic building in the centre of Richmond, fronting on to one of the main spaces in the town centre; and it also provides a functionally very successful library, which is still an attractive space and continues to give good service. In this respect it is far superior to many dark, gloomy and awkward Victorian buildings.

Group value

11. The library is immediately next door to Frank Matcham's Richmond Theatre (1899 - already listed). Though very different in style and materials, the two buildings are broadly comparable in scale and colouring and make an attractive and interesting pair.

12. The whole of the south-east side of Little Green comprises a group of mainly late Victorian public and commercial buildings of unusual quality and attractiveness, running from the United Reformed church to the architects' offices on the corner of Duke St. The library and theatre are the centrepiece of this group and as such are of great townscape importance. This range of buildings has considerable 'group value' as the best group of late Victorian buildings in Richmond and a delightful backdrop to Little Green: it would be a very regrettable loss if this group were to be damaged in any way.

Summary

13. The Environment Trust asks the Secretary of State to list Richmond library for three reasons: -
i. it is probably the oldest public library in outer London and as such of substantial historic interest;
ii. it is a building of considerable architectural quality which has remained virtually unaltered structurally since the 1886 enlargement: it provides both a civic building of real dignity and a functionally very successful library space;
iii. it is an important element in an unusually good group of late Victorian buildings, and particularly important as the immediate neighbour of Matcham's Richmond Theatre.
Annex A -article and drawing from The Builder, 26 March 1881.
Annex B -early photographs of the library
Annex C -photographs taken in August 2002.