The British Museum Bindery and 1–2 Montague Place, London Borough of Camden: A Historic Buildings Report
Author(s): Johanna Roethe
This report was written in response to proposals which involve the demolition of two buildings in the northwest corner of the British Museum site, the Bindery and 1–2 Montague Place. Both buildings are inextricably connected to the history of the Museum, its founding, later expansion and its lasting success. Built in 1898 by the Office of Works, the Bindery is the first purpose-built binding workshop on the site. It served the British Museum Library and, from 1973 until 2007, the British Library. It is a general-purpose workshop building, incorporating an earlier boiler house and an extension of 1957–58. It appears to be a rare example of a large-scale purpose-built craft bindery. The building at 1–2 Montague Place is a purpose-built photographic laboratory of 1970–73, built by the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works. Its façade replicates two terraced houses of c.1810 previously on the site. These houses were the last survivors of a terrace of houses on the south side of Montague Place, most of which were demolished for the King Edward VII Galleries in 1904. An attempt to refurbish the houses in the 1960s resulted in their demolition, as they were found to be beyond repair.
- Report Number:
- 60/2009
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 42
- Keywords:
- Modern Post Medieval Standing Building
