Our past in print
We opened our doors in 1894 for the people of the parish. We were at once a wash house, laundrette, gym, free lending library, and even a heated swimming pool (London's first). The rules of table tennis were also invented here, by none other than Fred Perry and a few friends.
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The Print School
At the heart of Fleet Street
The year we opened, we set up a print school to train the flourishing trade of Fleet Street. It eventually outgrew Bride Lane, and in 1922 joined several other institutions to become what is today the London College of Communication.
Workshops & tours:format(webp))
Library / Collection
Opening the doors of our library
We started the library in 1895 to support our students, with funding from the famous John Passmore Edwards. We then acquired the wonderful libraries of William Blades and Talbot Baine Reeds - a treasure trove of technical handbooks, catalogues, type specimens, and print ephemera. We've kept adding to our collection ever since, which now stands at more than 100,000 items.
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Bridewell Theatre
From swimming to Sondheim
The pool itself is no longer in use, but it still sits in all its tiled splendour beneath the Bridewell Theatre, which opened in 1994. The original changing rooms are there too, although they now see more types of costume than in their Victoria heyday. Next door is the Bridewell Bar, which used to be a laundry room, where you can still see the original wooden washing machine and centrifugal dryer.
Bridewell Theatre Listings:format(webp))
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Rare, remarkable, and renowned
Today we're one of the world's most renowned collections of design and print history, with over 10,000 historic type specimens alone. We have woodblocks by Robert Gibbings and Edmund Evans, original artwork from Edward Johnson's London Underground designs, The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer illustrated by William Morris, and scale models for Calvert and Kinneir's UK road signage.
We're also a workshop, gallery and community space. Many things to many people, just like we have been for over a century.
Explore the collections