Spring Hill Library

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

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
Completed	7 January 1893
Height	65 feet (20 m)
Design and construction
Architect	Frederick Martin, Martin & Chamberlain
Awards and prizes	Grade II* listed

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]

Still in use as a Birmingham branch library, is a Grade II* listed building.[3][4]

In January 2014, the city council chose Spring Hill as one of four community libraries for future closure as part of its cuts program.[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. "Four Birmingham libraries facing closure because of budget cuts". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 27 January 2016.

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