Spring Hill Library

Spring Hill Library
Spring Hill Library
	Spring Hill Library, Ladywood, Birmingham
General information
Type	Library
Location	Ladywood, Birmingham, England
Coordinates	52°29′6.16″N 1°55′10.14″W / 52.4850444°N 1.9194833°W
Completed	7 January 1893
Height	65 feet (20 m)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	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 notably elegant new (2010) Tesco superstore. The site was previously the location for the turnpike gate house for Icknield Street.^[2]

Still in use as a Birmingham branch library, it is a grade II* listed building.

As of January 2014, the city council has decided it wishes to close the building down as part of its cuts program, despite being in the most deprived ward in the UK. A campaigning group is being set up to oppose this. The next meeting is at the library Thursday 20th February 2014 at 530-630. See also Facebook page for Friends of Spring Hill Library.

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

Notes

^ Thornton, Roy (2006). Victorian Buildings of Birmingham. Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7509-3857-9. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
^ John Young Walker MacAlister (1891). The Library: The Transactions of the Bibliographical Society. Oxford University Press. p. 199. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

References

52°29′6.16″N 1°55′10.14″W / 52.4850444°N 1.9194833°W / 52.4850444; -1.9194833

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[thornton-1] Thornton, Roy (2006). Victorian Buildings of Birmingham. Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7509-3857-9. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)

[2] John Young Walker MacAlister (1891). The Library: The Transactions of the Bibliographical Society. Oxford University Press. p. 199. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

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