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Portswood

Portswood Library was built in 1915 on land that had previously been part of the Portswood House estate. The estate, which included the west side of Portswood Road from Highfield Lane to Brookvale Road, was sold off in 1913. Most of this area was bought up for shops and for the Palladium Cinema, which was the first building to be erected on the site. Sidney Kimber, who was then a member of the Public Library Committee, bought the site next to the cinema for the new library, which was duly built in 1915.

The plaque commemmorating the erection of the library can be seen here:

Portswood Library plaque

Photograph, Caroline Andrews, 2016

Here is the library about 1975:

Portswood Library

Photograph, c.1975

And here are images of it in 2016:

Portswood Library entrance, with inscription over door

Photograph, Caroline Andrews, 2016

Portswood Library exterior

Photograph, Caroline Andrews, 2016

Portswood Library - interior, looking towards entrance

Photograph, Caroline Andrews, 2016

Portswood Library interior

Photograph, Caroline Andrews, 2016

Portswood Library - ceiling detail

Photograph, Caroline Andrews, 2016

See also:

• Libraries

Further reading:

‘The Development of Public Libraries in Southampton, 1887-1921’, by Richard Preston in Southampton Local History Forum Journal, no. 15, Summer 2009, p 1-20. (HS/h)

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