Country | United Kingdom |
---|---|
Type | Public library |
Established | 1890 |
Location | Knatchbull Road London, SE5 |
Branches | 1 |
Collection | |
Items collected | Books, public records, photographs Lambeth Archives |
Access and use | |
Access requirements | Open - Lambeth Archives Closed - public library |
Website | www.lambeth.gov.uk/places/minet-library |
Map | |
The Minet Library is a public library in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London. The library opened in 1890 and currently operates as a self-service library, with limited staff, as a result of cuts to funding.
The building is home to Lambeth Archives, which remains open to users.
The Minet Library was built by William Minet and opened in 1890. Minet was a descendant of French Huguenots who immigrated to London in the 1700s, and 1889 he also gave 14½ acres of land to the London County Council to create Myatt's Fields Park. [1]
The library was designed to be a church hall for St. James The Apostle on Knatchbull Road and to be used by the tenants of the local estate. When Minet's first wife, Alice Evans, died in 1887 before the building was completed, he decided to turn it into a public library in her memory. [2] [1]
The library might have been completed before the nearby Durning Library and South Lambeth Tate Library, but was interrupted when the contractor went bankrupt, Minet was interested in the co-operative movement and decided to form a private company on co-operative lines. The experiment was successful and the library, which was designed by George Hubbard who also designed nearby Longfield Hall, was finished and opened in 1890. [1]
Hubbard's octagonal library building, in the Gothic Revival style, was partially destroyed by an incendiary bomb on 8 December 1940 during The Blitz. The fire destroyed 18,585 books. Around 6,700 books were salvaged, and half of those were moved to Longfield Hall were a temporary library was established. [3] The Surrey Collection, a collection of archive records established by William Minet, survived the fire because they were housed in a strong room. [4]
The library was rebuilt in 1956 and became part of the London Borough of Lambeth public library service and official home of the Lambeth Archives. [5]
In the late 1990s, the library began to suffer from cuts to local council funding, and Lambeth Council proposed closing the library on a number of occasions. This culminated in 2015 with Lambeth Council closing the library (but not the archive) and proposing to contract Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) to convert part of the building into a gym, with a limited library service continuing to operate. [6]
The magazine Private Eye reported in May 2017 that Lambeth Council had begun talking to GLL about contracting them to turn Minet Library and others in the borough into gyms before a plan by library staff and local residents to save the libraries was rejected in 2015. [7]
In May 2016, despite protests by local residents, the Minet Library was closed by the Lambeth Council. [8] [9] The library reopened in 2017, but with reduced services. It is currently operating as a self-service library. [10] [11] [12]
Lambeth Archives and the local history reference collection remains open to the public until a new home can be found.
Brixton is a district in the south of London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century as communications with central London improved.
Stockwell is a district in South West London, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated 2.4 miles (3.9 km) south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell.
Lambeth is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as Lambehitha and in 1255 as Lambeth. The geographical centre of London is at Frazier Street near Lambeth North tube station, though nearby Charing Cross on the other side of the Thames in the City of Westminster is traditionally considered the centre of London.
Lambeth is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area experienced some slight growth in the medieval period as part of the manor of Lambeth Palace. By the Victorian era the area had seen significant development as London expanded, with dense industrial, commercial and residential buildings located adjacent to one another. The changes brought by World War II altered much of the fabric of Lambeth. Subsequent development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has seen an increase in the number of high-rise buildings. The area is home to the International Maritime Organization.
Lambeth was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in south London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 and became part of the County of London in 1889. The parish of Lambeth became a metropolitan borough in 1900, following the London Government Act 1899, with the parish vestry replaced by a borough council.
Herne Hill is a district in South London, England, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Denmark Hill, Dulwich Village, Loughborough Junction and Tulse Hill. It straddles the boundary between the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. There is a road of the same name in the area, as well as a railway station.
The London Borough of Lambeth, in spite of being close to the centre of London has over 64 areas of parks and open spaces, in addition to 34 play areas and eight paddling pools, within its boundaries. In common with all the London boroughs these green spaces provide "lungs" for the leisure pursuits of the inhabitants.
Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL), operating under the brand "Better", is a non-profit charitable Social Enterprise organisation which runs over 250 sport and leisure facilities and libraries on behalf of local authorities in London and across the UK, as well as its own internal college and the "Healthwise" programme. Its headquarters is in Middlegate House, the 1810-built former storekeeper's mansion at Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, South East London.
Loughborough Junction is an area of South London, in the London Borough of Lambeth, which is located equidistant between Brixton, Camberwell, Herne Hill and Dulwich.
Ashby's Mill, often referred to as Brixton Windmill, is a restored grade II* listed tower mill at Brixton in the London Borough of Lambeth. The mill was in Surrey when built and has been preserved.
Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, and one of the 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council meets at Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton. Lambeth is divided into 21 wards, each electing three councillors. The council was first elected in 1964.
Vassall ward is an administrative division of the London Borough of Lambeth, United Kingdom. It is also known as 'Myatt's Field' when informally describing the area. It is located in the North of borough bordering Southwark, in the SW9 and SE5 postcode area. The area is named after Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland who was responsible for the first building development in the area in the 1820s.
Myatt's Fields Park is a 14-acre Victorian park in Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London, England, 2.9 miles south-east of Charing Cross.
Steven Mark Ward Reed is a British politician who has been Shadow Secretary of State for Justice since November 2021. A member of the Labour and Co-operative party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Croydon North since 2012.
Lambeth Archives is an archive in South London, managed by the London Borough of Lambeth. Containing records of Lambeth businesses, organisations and individuals, it is housed at the Minet Library on Knatchbull Road. The archive holds various documents for tracing family history, including parish records, electoral registers, civil registers, census returns, poll books, cemetery records, trade and commercial directories, and historic newspapers. The archive is open to the public free of charge.
Myatt's Fields South is a social housing estate located between Brixton Road and Camberwell New Road in South London. It is on land that once formed part of the Lambeth Wick estate.
William Minet (1851–1933) was a British landowner and philanthropist, of Huguenot descent.
Max Roach Park is a public park in Brixton in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is named after the African American Jazz drummer Max Roach, who visited the park in 1986.
The Carnegie Library is a public library in the London Borough of Lambeth in Herne Hill, South London. The library opened in 1906. It closed as a public lending library in 2016 as a result of cuts to funding, reopening in 2018 with a reduced librarian service.
The Brixton Library is a public library in the London Borough of Lambeth in Brixton, South West London. It was built in the 1890s by the sugar magnate Sir Henry Tate and is a Grade II listed building.