Westminster Public Library
WESTMINSTER PUBLIC LIBRARY, GREAT SMITH STREET SW1
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1268324
- Date first listed:
- 19-Aug-1996
- List Entry Name:
- Westminster Public Library
- Statutory Address:
- WESTMINSTER PUBLIC LIBRARY, GREAT SMITH STREET SW1
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2006-03-25
- Reference:
- IOE01/14852/20
- Rights:
- © Miss Patricia Philpott. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1268324
- Date first listed:
- 19-Aug-1996
- List Entry Name:
- Westminster Public Library
- Statutory Address 1:
- WESTMINSTER PUBLIC LIBRARY, GREAT SMITH STREET SW1
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- WESTMINSTER PUBLIC LIBRARY, GREAT SMITH STREET SW1
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- City of Westminster (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 29918 79280
Details
TQ 2979 SE GREAT SMITH STREET, SW1
(west side)
1900/100/10053
Westminster Public Library
II
Public library. 1893 by Francis J R Smith. Red brick with extensive stone dressings, tiled roof with crestings. Iron railings in front. Nine-bay range, variously three storeys and two storeys with dormers set behind parapets, all over basement. Projecting three-bay centrepiece makes this a tripartite composition, the central bay of each block of three bays with crested gables adorned with stone finials in profusion. Balustraded parapet and ornate moulded brick stacks. All windows with stone mullions and transoms, in 2-3-2-3-canted 4-3-2-3-2 formation. Projecting central bay over main entrance: stone porch with Ionic pilasters supporting entablature dated 1893 with dedication to the parishes of St Margaret and St John. Two pairs of panelled doors reached up steps and under segmental, much moulded arch. End bays with single double doors; these and the ground floor windows excepting those immediately adjacent under swan's-neck pediments with lavish volutes; the first floor windows over these with segmental pediments. The other bays set between pilasters and with relief panels, three per floor, depicting -in medallions -on the ground floor Spenser, Shakespeare and Chaucer, Dryden, Milton and Tennyson; the upper row armorial roundels.
Interior is remarkably complete, and small scale. Screens divide lending library from reading area and entrance. Cast iron balcony round lending library, which retains original panelling and partitions beneath trabeated ceiling and early bookstacks, now rare. Rarer still is the book lift from the basement, reflecting the original 'closed access' system of storage and selection.
Included as one of the most impressive civic designs of its day in London, executed in an intricate Jacobean style, The sculpture, executed by Henry Poole and Son, is of special interest.
Listing NGR: TQ2991879280
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 461935
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 22-Jun-2026 at 01:09:48.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.