Portslade in the Past: Portslade Library

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2023)

The first library in Portslade was a Parish Library, which was run in Lindfield House in Portslade Old Village under the auspices of William Dudney and his family in the 1880s. (The Baptist Church now occupies the site of Lindfield House). Then the library lapsed because widowed Mrs Dudney moved to Lindfield.

The library was revived again in 1900 but hopeful customers could not just wander in when they felt like it since it was only open for one hour a week on a Tuesday – to be precise from 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. It would also cost you a half-penny to borrow a book, and it was announced hopefully that suitable books for the library might be given to the vicar. Miss Monery was in charge.

The next we hear about a library was that it had moved to Portslade Fire Station in Church Road, where it was established in 1928.

By 1930 library matters were in a more formal footing, being situated in St Nicolas Church Hall in Abinger Road. In April 1930 Mr C. V. Brumwell wrote a letter on behalf of the hall’s trustees agreeing to the provision and storing of a table and curtain, but he could not agree to the fixing of a notice board.

In the same month Mr L Howard accepted the post of honorary librarian while Mr C. A. Penfold of 31 St Aubyn’s Road was to be assistant librarian. It seemed there might have been a little rumpus behind the scenes, but the only fact revealed was that Mr W. G. Orton had declined the post of assistant librarian and had also resigned from the library sub-committee as well as from the library staff. The council was to write an official letter to him thanking him for his services.

The estimated expenditure on Portslade Library Centre for 1931-1932 was £72. But the costs soon escalated and in 1935 it was stated that Portslade Council had raised £98 from the rates to go to East Sussex County Library to help pay for the costs of the library, and the same was collected the following year too.

By 1938 the librarian was Mr G. A. Browne. In September 1938 it was recorded that it cost £52 a year to hire the church hall, the librarian’s salary was £26 while his assistant earned £13.

In May 1939 there was a discussion with the county architect about the possibility of establishing a new library. But the two sites suggested by Portslade Council were not considered to be suitable. Nothing was done.

By the 1960s the library was split between Portslade Infants’ School and Easthill House.

A New Library

On 21 October 1961 there came the first announcement that East Sussex County Council would build a new library at Portslade. The new library arose on a site south of the Old Shoreham Road, and it cost £200,000 to build. Alderman Harry Parker officially opened it in November 1964. It was fitting that he should have been given this honour because it was he who had orchestrated the campaign to have a new library built. After the opening ceremony he said ‘This Library will be Portslade’s University.’

The library was very much of its times, and its futuristic design led to it being compared to a Sputnik. However, the site proved to be a problem for the architect because it was lower than the surface of Old Shoreham Road. Therefore there was a flight of steps from the vestibule to the main body of the building. In those days disabled access was not a consideration, and today there is a partial resolution of the problem that allows access to the library from the east side through the staff door and workroom.

Portslade Library has proved to be of great value to the community and it is well patronised. Indeed, even in 2022 when there have been so many setbacks, and never mind Covid-19, the library has one of the highest branch library users in the whole of Brighton and Hove.

In the past the annual issue figures were easy to come by. However, with the advance of computers it is an entirely different matter. The same lack of records available for the public to scrutinise, as used to be the case in times past, now seems to be the normal state of affairs right across Brighton & Hove City Council.

Portslade's history artifacts on show in Portslade Library

Photographs left and centre, show a rhinoceros teeth and bone, found near Portslade Station, Rhinoceros inhabited the Portslade area about 200,000 years ago. On the right are the carpal bones of a bear found in 1908 in the brick-fields which later became Portslade’s Victoria Recreation Ground. The bear’s foot bones were donated by Dr Eliot Curwen in 1911.

These examples of Romano-British pottery dating from nearly 2000 years ago were found in south Portslade in Victorian times.

1) Plaque to commemorate Portslade’s adoption of H.M. Motor Torpedo Boat 58 in 1942.
2) Miniture Ronuk floor brush from Portslade’s Ronuk Factory in Victoria Road.
3) The 1920s Portslade crest designed by Mr P.J.W. Barker of Trafalgar Road with the Latin inscription Vive Valeque, which translate to Here’s Health and Strength to You.

Shaun the Sheep in Portslade Library

There are 40 individually designed sculptures of Shaun the Sheep displayed around Brighton & Hove’s streets, parks and other public areas from the 9 September until 5 November 2023, in connection to a fund raising event for the Martlets Hospice.

Left – Joy Shaun, created by St Nicolas CE Primary School “Joy is not in things; it is in us.” (Richard Wagner).
Right - Lolli Shaun, created by St Mary’s Catholic Primary School

Left - Dorothy, created by Brackenbury Primary School . Right - Pollen the Sheep, created by Benfield Primary School.

Issue Figures

1 April 1936 – 31 March 1937 – 21,231

1 April 1937 – 31 March 1938 – 24,822

New Library:-

1974-75 – 262,045

1975-76 – 267,444

1976-77 – 244,134

1977-78 - 232,339

1978-79 – 224,223

1979-80 – 228,882

1980-81 – 225,930

1981-82 – 225,485

1982-83 – 217,494

1988-89 – 123,018

1989-90 – 134,979

1990-91 – 113,047 + 24,593 children’s books

1991-92 – 107,784 + 24,850 children’s books

1992-93 – 96,165 + 24,250 children’s books

1993-94 – 95,634 + plus 25,780 children’s books

1994-95 – 90,234 + plus 31,123 children’s books

1995-96 – 84,527

1996-97 – 76,201

1997-98 – 83,233

1998-99 – 82,709

Source

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

08 June 2023

Portslade Library