Limehouse Public Library is a historical building in

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, formerly a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

. The library was first proposed for construction in 1888, but the required finances could not be raised until 1900 when

John Passmore Edwards John Passmore Edwards (24 March 1823 – 22 April 1911)ODNB article by A. J. A. Morris, 'Edwards, John Passmore (1823–1911)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 200 accessed 15 Nove ...

was approached for assistance. He subscribed a sum of £5,000 and he subsequently laid the foundation stone on 19 October that year. The library was opened to the public in November 1901 by the mayor of Stepney. More recently usage of the Grade II listed building fell, and it eventually closed in 2003. It is currently boarded up to prevent vandalism. The local

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of ...

council put the building up for sale in a controversial transaction which has since been investigated during an enquiry into the behaviour of the borough's former mayor, Lutfur Rahman. The library building was sold to a restaurant company and is currently being redeveloped into student housing.638 Commercial Road/Limehouse Library (PA/13/2580 & PA/13/2581)
Tower Hamlets Council

Statue of Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee statue - Limehouse library

Outside the library there formerly stood a statue of Clement Attlee, erected in 1988, who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Limehouse from 1922 to 1950, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. After the library closed, the statue was vandalised, and the council surrounded it with protective hoarding, before removing it for repair and recasting. In April 2011, the statue was unveiled in its new position less than a mile away at

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

, in

Mile End Mile End is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...

References

Library buildings completed in 1901 Libraries in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Public libraries in London

Library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets {{London-struct-stub