Spring Hill Library

Spring Hill Library
Spring Hill Library, Ladywood, Birmingham
Interactive map of Spring Hill Library
General information
Type	Library
Location	Ladywood, Birmingham, England
Coordinates	52°29′6.16″N1°55′10.14″W / 52.4850444°N 1.9194833°W / 52.4850444; -1.9194833
Completed	7 January 1893
Height	65 feet (20 m)
Design and construction
Architects	Frederick Martin, Martin & Chamberlain
Awards and prizes	Grade II* listed

Spring Hill Library (grid reference SP055874 ) is a red brick and terracotta Victorian building in Ladywood, Birmingham, England.

Designed in 1891 by Frederick Martin ^[1] of Martin & Chamberlain with a 65-foot (20 m) clock tower on the corner of Icknield Street and Spring Hill and opened on 7 January 1893, it now stands next to a roundabout and linked via a glazed atrium to a new (2010) Tesco superstore. The site was previously the location for the turnpike gate house for Icknield Street. ^[2]

The library is a Grade II* listed building. ^{[3] [4]}

It closed down for good in 2022, and as of 2025 will never reopen. ^[5]

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  Arms of Birmingham
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  The ceiling, with curved iron girders concealed (unusual for Martin & Chamberlain)

Notes

1. Thornton, Roy (2006). Victorian Buildings of Birmingham. Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN   0-7509-3857-9.
2. John Young Walker MacAlister; Alfred William Pollard (1891). The Library: The Transactions of the Bibliographical Society. Oxford University Press. p. 199.
3. Historic England. "Spring Hill Public Library (Grade II*) (1076161)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 27 January 2016.
4. Historic England. "Details and photograph (1076161)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 27 October 2006.
5. Harry Leach (30 November 2025). "Inside historic Birmingham library frozen in time that 'will never reopen'". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 5 December 2025.

References

• Birmingham Libraries – History of Spring Hill Library
• Spring Hill Architecture – article by Joe Holyoak 1974
• Pictures of Spring Hill Library in context with neighbouring buildings: Search for "Spring Hill Library" from Birmingham Images

52°29′6.16″N1°55′10.14″W / 52.4850444°N 1.9194833°W / 52.4850444; -1.9194833