bromley house library
founded 1816
Membership allows the member and any resident family full use of the library services and facilities. These include fresh coffee, which is always available.
Members can also bring in guests, all we ask is that you sign your guest in and stay with them while they are in the library.
Annual Membership Subscription £104, due in April
Half-price subscriptions available for people aged 18-25 or for people living more than 50 miles away from the Library
Background
Nottingham Subscription Library was founded in 1816 and moved in 1820 to its present home, Bromley House Library
Collection
The Library book collection has a good selection of materials of interest to local historians, many topographical works, and a wide selection of 19th and early 20th century novels. In recent years the collection’s emphasis has been on biographies, travel books and new novels.
The number of books is approximately 40,000. New books are bought regularly and members’ requests are considered for purchase. Daily newspapers and a selection of current journals and magazines are available. These are not retained by the library but members can make annual sealed bids for their purchase.The book stock of 35,000 includes a good local section, many topographical books, and many nineteenth- and twentieth-century novels. New books are purchased regularly with an emphasis on biographies, travel books and new fiction. Newspapers and magazines are also available.
Building
1752 town house listed grade II* and containing many interesting period features: walled garden to the rear. Bromley House is centrally situated in the city on Angel Row. It is a dark red brick building built in 1752 as a 'town house' for George Smith, grandson of the founder of Smiths Bank, the oldest known provincial bank in the country. The building has been designated Grade II* listed status and contains many interesting period features and some fine paintings. The main part of the library is housed in a series of reading rooms with plaster ceilings, cornices and overmantels. A particularly fine spiral staircase and gallery is a feature of the largest room. At the rear of the library premises is a walled garden which members can use. In common with the rest of Bromley House, it is often referred to as “a haven” in the city centre. Please note that the Library is on the first floor and above of a Listed Building and has no disabled access. Bromley House Library was the home of the first photographic studio in Nottingham. This operated on the top floor from 1841 to 1955. At one time it had a circular skylight of blue tinted glass and was the venue for many of Notttingham’s top 19th century families to have their likenesses made.
Contact information
Bromley House, Angel Row, Nottingham NG1 6HL
tel: 01159 473 134
Open Monday to Friday 9.30- 17.00, Saturday 9.30-16.00.
Closed Saturdays in August and Bank Holiday Saturdays
Researchers and other visitors welcome by prior appointment
Website
www.bromleyhouse.org
Status
Registered charity no. 1074752
Social Media