Building work has been carried out on the Library grounds over the last two weeks of August 2024. We commissioned specialist contractors to repair the drainage at the front of this Grade I listed building and to stabilise the ground beneath the main porch.
The workers have dug pits, repaired piping, used specialist techniques to support the building and undertaken careful measurements to make sure there was no undesirable impact on the architecture of the Library.
During this, Gladstone’s Library has operated as usual, admitting registered Readers to the Reading Rooms, accommodating people who booked to stay overnight in our bedrooms and serving lunches and refreshments to diners in the restaurant.
It is impossible to carry out work on this scale in silence. Our guests have been tolerant of the drilling and digging, despite many coming to the Reading Rooms, where, normally, noisiness is discouraged.
We appreciate their patience at this time and want to thank those guests who chose to spend time here while vital structural work was being completed; as a charity, we continued to offer our services as we know how important they are, and the comfort and custom of our guests is important to us.
These photos are not the most glamorous images ever taken of the grounds, but they represent a great deal to us!
Gladstone's Library is a 120+ year-old building which has seen constant use. This work will help preserve it for future generations.
This repair work is kindly supported by the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) Covid Response Fund. The grant was secured to repair and restore the porch and the Library roof.
This first phase has drawn to a close, and the Library has returned to its usual blend of busy-ness and quiet for now, but this is not an end to the exciting restoration project which will run into 2025.
We will keep people informed of future work on our social media channels (Gladstoneslibrary on Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky and Threads) and through our newsletter, which you can sign up tousing the field on the left.