Designed by John Tarring. It was built on the site of the Fleet Prison, and became a meeting place for several progressive organisations, including the Labour Party which was founded here in 1900. The Congregational Union was based here 1875-1968.
For WW2 until 1957 the library was moved to Manchester, for safety and also because the Government requisitioned the building 1940-50. c.1967 it was moved to 14 Gordon Square where it was looked after by Dr. Williams’s Library. The library is now (2025) housed at Westminster College, Cambridge.
1966-72 was a time of upheaval in the Congregational movement, resulting in two organisations: the United Reformed Church and the Congregational Federation.
1968-72 the Tarring building was demolished and replaced with (with space set aside for use by the Congregationalists) which was itself demolished in 2004.
Earlier history: A Congregational Library had first opened in an existing building in Blomfield Street, EC4 on 9 May 1831. Here proposals to form the Congregational Union of England and Wales were first discussed. The Union was formed in 1831 and shared the premises with the Library. The extension of the Metropolitan Railway, meant that in 1866 the Blomfield Street premises had to be vacated and the books put in storage until the purpose-built Congregational Memorial Hall was opened 1875 in Farringdon Street.
Sources: , , A , .
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
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