The Victorian building that houses Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, at 277 Bancroft Road in Mile End, has been added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register. The 2026 register was published on Thursday 5 November.
The library is still open. Historic England describes the building’s condition as poor, the Standard reported in its rundown of the 16 London sites added this year.
The building holds the borough’s collections on the history of the East End. It has been Grade II listed since 27 September 1973. The list entry says it was built in two parts: a northern end of 1865 in white stone with Corinthian pilasters, and a southern part that is probably earlier.
What the council has said about the building
In May the National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded Tower Hamlets Council £94,930 for a project called Preparing to Launch, which is meant to build support for a capital fundraising campaign for the library. The grant record is dated 6 May 2026.
The council’s application said the archive’s Accredited Archive status “is also at risk due to poor collections storage facilities”. It said the Executive Mayor had offered £1m from the council once external funding is secured.
A council report on capital projects says Haworth Tompkins Architects delivered a feasibility study in December 2023 that put the cost of the work at £18.87m, split into £9.6m of essential work and £9.27m of desired work. The report lists fire safety compliance and the loss of accreditation among the risks.
The council has already carried out some smaller work. On 11 May it approved listed building consent to replace a non-compliant external staircase from the roof to the courtyard with a new steel one (reference PA/26/00381/NC).
The rest of east London
Two east London entries came off the register this year. The former East Ham Police Station in Newham, closed for more than a decade, is now teaching space for Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre after a refurbishment by Rivington Street Studio.
The Grade II-listed Grotto in Wanstead Park, built in 1761 as a boathouse beside the Ornamental Water and largely destroyed by fire in 1884, was stabilised by the City of London Corporation and its Epping Forest charity. The City announced its removal on 5 November.
“The Grotto is one of Wanstead Park’s most recognisable landmarks,” said Caroline Haines, who chairs the City Corporation’s Epping Forest and Commons Committee.
Further east, the former police station at 621 Rainham Road South in Dagenham and Warren Farm Barn in Chadwell Heath, an 18th-century brick barn, were both added.
Across London, 16 sites were added and 24 removed, leaving 596 entries. England’s register has 4,991 entries, with 197 added and 85 removed for positive reasons, Historic England said.
Claudia Kenyatta and Emma Squire, Historic England’s joint chief executives, said: “The most effective way to protect our buildings is to bring them back into use as places that create connection and enjoyment for local people.”
The essentials
- What: Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, now on the Heritage at Risk Register
- Where: 277 Bancroft Road, London E1 4DQ
- Status: open; Grade II listed