Timperley Library

The history of public libraries in Timperley stretches back to the 1860s, when an upstairs room in the Charity School was to ‘be fitted up as a Reading Room and Library for the benefit of the inhabitants of Timperley and the adjoining townships’. The school itself had opened in the 1780s, and was funded by voluntary subscriptions. The 1838 tithe map and apportionment for Timperley suggest that the school may have been located at the crossroads of Thorley Lane and Stockport Road.

Plan of the Township of Timperley, 1838 (copy). Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. 96697261

In November 1862, the Northwich Guardian notified its readers that The North Cheshire Celery and Chrysanthemum Show was to take place in the Timperley Library Room. There was also an advert for an evening of readings and recitals from popular authors, at which the 25^th Cheshire Royal Volunteers band was also to perform.

The library was open for around twelve years, until the school building was demolished.

The Homestead, Park Road, Timperley, 2021. Photograph by S. Llewellyn

Ordnance Survey map showing Timperley Library on Park Road, 1957. Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. 96273380

In 1936, Altrincham Urban District Council’s jurisdiction was extended to include part of the civil parish of Dunham Massey and the whole of Timperley. On 24 June 1937, a library was opened on Park Road in Timperley, as a branch of Altrincham Library. It was housed in a large Victorian building, known as the Homestead, which had previously served as the premises of the Maternity and Child Welfare Committee.

Park Road Branch Library was immediately successful.

Minutes of the Public Libraries, Museum, Art Gallery and Public Hall Committee, 19 July 1937. Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. ALT/1/1/15/3/1

Park Road Branch Library, c.1938. Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. ALT/5/1/1

A Story Hour at Park Road Branch Library.jpg

A “Story Hour” at Park Road Branch Library, 1938. Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. ALT/5/1/1

In 1959 a telephone was installed in the library.

In 1981, Timperley’s first purpose-built library was erected on the corner of Stockport Road and Baker Street. The building was officially opened on 24 March 1982, by Mayor of Trafford, Stan Brownhill, although it welcomed its first visitors the year before. The Homestead became a community centre.

The exterior of Timperley Library, 1982. Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. TL1058

The interior of Timperley Library, 1982. Trafford Local Studies collection, cat. ref. TL8341a

2021 sees the opening of a brand-new library, together with a medical centre and residential accommodation. During the construction, the Homestead was once again filled with books, as it became a temporary library for the area, in a nice reminder that ‘history doesn’t repeat itself but it rhymes’.

The entrance to Timperley Library’s temporary residence on Park Road, 2021. Photograph by S. Llewellyn

Timperley Library 2021 (photograph by S. Llewellyn).jpg

The exterior of the new Timperley Library, May 2021. Photograph by S. Llewellyn

Sources

Ronald Broadhurst, A History of the Township of Timperley, (Northern Writers, 1999)

The Manchester Guardian, 21 August 1939

Northwich Guardian, 8 November 1862

Northwich Guardian, 15 November 1862