Limehouse Public Library in Limehouse

Limehouse

Limehouse is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is on the northern bank of the River Thames opposite Rotherhithe and between Ratcliff to the west and Millwall to the east....

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 was first proposed for construction in 1888, but the required finances could not be raised until 1900 when J Passmore Edwards was approached for assistance. He subscribed a sum of £5000, and he subsequently laid the foundation stone on October 19 of 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. As of December 2006 the local council were in the process of selling the building. It is currently boarded up to prevent vandalism.

Outside formerly stood a statue, erected in 1988, of Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee

Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...

, who was Labour Member of Parliament for Limehouse from 1922 to 1950, and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. In April 2011 the statue was unveiled in its new position less than a mile away at Queen Mary University of London, in Mile End

Mile End

Mile End is an area within the East End of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross...

.