Description

TQ 2889 QUEEN'S AVENUE
(south side)
800-/21/10009 Muswell Hill Public
library

II

Public library. 1931 by W H Adams for Hornsey Borough Council.
Red and brown brick with stone dressings, flat roof.
Rectangular plan of two storeys, the lower for adults and the
upper for children - this with central four-bay raised attic
and skylights. Three bay main frontage has deep plinth, a
giant order of pilasters, cornice, frieze and pediment, with
central double panelled doors flanked by giant volute brackets
and carriage lamps. Over it are arrayed the Hornsey Borough
arms and the date - 1931 - in stone surround linking door with
first-floor window. The flanking windows are similarly paired
vertically, but have between them raised stone panels inset
into contrasting brickwork. This motif is repeated on the
first bay of the side elevations; these also have a giant
order, but have brown brick panels at first-floor level and
clerestorey glazing in raised attic. All windows have metal
glazing with margin lights and diagonal panes in various
patterns.
The interior has an elaborate iron stair leading to children's
library. This room is significant for the survival of its
panelling, some original shelving and especially for a deep
frieze of murals painted by the Hornsey School of Art in
1937-8; they are the earliest mural decorations known to
survive in a children's library, - once a popular repository
for mural painting as a device to encourage learning, but now
rare. The murals depict local scenes through the ages, and
were the work of J B Shaw, D Fuller, R Woodward, G Makins and
Miss W M Gamlen of-the Hornsey School of-Art.

Listing NGR: TQ2871689665

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Muswell Hill Library at Wikipedia
• Muswell Hill Library official website
• Wikidata Q27082187

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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