Kensington Central Library

51°30′05″N 0°11′40″W / 51.5015°N 0.1945°W / 51.5015; -0.1945Opened13 July 1960OwnerRoyal Borough of Kensington and ChelseaDesign and constructionArchitect(s)Vincent HarrisWebsitewww.rbkc.gov.uk/libraries-0/libraries-and-room-hire/kensington-central-library

Kensington Central Library is a Grade II* listed building on Hornton Street and Phillimore Walk, Kensington, London. It was built in 1958–60 by the architect E. Vincent Harris on the site of The Abbey, a Gothic house which had been constructed for a Mr Abbot in 1880 and destroyed by bombing in 1944.^[1] It was opened by the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 13 July 1960.^[2] The building was designed in a traditional, English, renaissance-style.^[3] There were demonstrations against the project by those who advocated for the building to be in a modern style.^[4]

The public library is within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and is managed as part of a tri-borough integrated library and archive service, alongside those of Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham.^[5]

On the south side of the library, facing Phillimore Walk, are two statues of a lion and a unicorn, both holding the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom. They were sculpted by William McMillan in order to reflect the "Royal" status of the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.^[2]

References

^ Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1992). The London Encyclopaedia (reprint ed.). Macmillan. p. 405.
^ ^a ^b Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1119724)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
^ Walker, David (3 March 2016). "A Renaissance Library for All: Kensington's Central Library". RBKC Library.
^ Denny, Barbara; Starren, Carolyn (1998). Kensington Past. London, U.K.: Historical Publications. p. 153. ISBN 9780948667503. OCLC 42308455.
^ "Tri-Borough". Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2016.

External links

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Official website

Libraries and archives in London

Public libraries
and archives

National	British Library British Museum Imperial War Museum National Gallery National Poetry Library Natural History Museum Parliamentary Archives Science Museum (Dana Research Centre and Library) The National Archives Victoria and Albert Museum (National Art Library)
Council	Barking and Dagenham (Valence House Museum) Barnet (East Finchley Library) Brent (Kensal Rise Library, The Library at Willesden Green) City of London (Artizan Street Library, Barbican Library, Guildhall Library, London Metropolitan Archives, Shoe Lane Library) City of Westminster (Westminster Reference Library) Camden (Swiss Cottage Library) Croydon (Ashburton Library, Croydon Central Library, New Addington Library, South Norwood Library, Upper Norwood Library) Haringey (Muswell Hill Library) Hillingdon (Manor Farm) Islington (Finsbury Library, Islington Local History Centre) Kensington and Chelsea (Kensington Central Library) Lambeth (Brixton Library, Carnegie Library, Durning Library, Lambeth Archives, Minet Library, Streatham Library, Upper Norwood Library) Merton (Mitcham Library) Southwark (Dulwich Library, John Harvard Library, Peckham Library) Tower Hamlets (Idea Store) Wandsworth (Battersea Central Library, Putney Library)

National

British Library
British Museum
Imperial War Museum
National Gallery
National Poetry Library
Natural History Museum
Parliamentary Archives
Science Museum (Dana Research Centre and Library)
The National Archives
Victoria and Albert Museum (National Art Library)

Council

Barking and Dagenham (Valence House Museum)
Barnet (East Finchley Library)
Brent (Kensal Rise Library, The Library at Willesden Green)
City of London (Artizan Street Library, Barbican Library, Guildhall Library, London Metropolitan Archives, Shoe Lane Library)
City of Westminster (Westminster Reference Library)
Camden (Swiss Cottage Library)
Croydon (Ashburton Library, Croydon Central Library, New Addington Library, South Norwood Library, Upper Norwood Library)
Haringey (Muswell Hill Library)
Hillingdon (Manor Farm)
Islington (Finsbury Library, Islington Local History Centre)
Kensington and Chelsea (Kensington Central Library)
Lambeth (Brixton Library, Carnegie Library, Durning Library, Lambeth Archives, Minet Library, Streatham Library, Upper Norwood Library)
Merton (Mitcham Library)
Southwark (Dulwich Library, John Harvard Library, Peckham Library)
Tower Hamlets (Idea Store)
Wandsworth (Battersea Central Library, Putney Library)

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and archives

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Charitable	Bishopsgate Library Feminist Library Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum Library for Iranian Studies Marx Memorial Library Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum Wellcome Library Wiener Library for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide
Informal	56a Infoshop London Action Resource Centre
Private	Church of England (Lambeth Palace Library) Dr Williams's Library Evangelical Library London Library UK Parliament (House of Commons Library, House of Lords Library)