Labour History News
Bishopsgate Institute and Library
Bishopsgate Institute and Library will be taking part in Open House London
www.openhouse.org.uk/london/home.html on Sunday 17th September
10am to 4.45pm. Tours will be taken on the hour and all main rooms will be open.
An educational foundation that opened in 1894, the Institute provides a range of educational courses for busy city workers at Lunchtimes and early
evenings.
Bishopsgate Library offers free public access to its unique and
fascinating historical collections about London and the early labour, free
thought and co-operative movements. Displays relating to the history of
the Library and Institute will be on view along with a selection of items
from the collections.
Bishopsgate Institute was the first of the three major buildings designed
by Charles Harrison Townsend (1851-1928); the other two are the nearby
Whitechapel Gallery and the Horniman Museum in South London. His work
combined elements of the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau styles, along with
the typically Victorian.
With its terracotta façade covered with stylised leafy trees and topped by
two turrets, its impressive Great Hall, panelled Boardroom and
recently-restored Reference Library, this Grade II* listed building is one
of the very few in the area to have survived intact through the 20th
century.
The Institute's halls and meeting rooms are available for hire.
Jeff Abbott
Library Manager
Bishopsgate Foundation & Institute
230 Bishopsgate
London
EC2M 4QH
T 020 7392 9270
F 020 7392 9275
E
W www.bishopsgate.org.uk
Bishopsgate Library offers free public access to its world-renowned collections on London, labour and freethought.