Visiting Southwark Heritage Centre

Address

145-147 Walworth Road
London
SE17 1RW

How to get there

Bus: 12, 35, 40. 45, 68, 136, 148, 171, 176, 343, 468, P5 
Tube:  Elephant and Castle
Train: Elephant and Castle

View the location on a map.

Opening times

• Monday 10am to 8pm
• Tuesday 10am to 8pm
• Wednesday 10am to 8pm
• Thursday 10am to 8pm
• Friday 10am to 8pm
• Saturday 10am to 5pm
• Sunday 12pm to 4pm

This multi-use community space provides a combined library and heritage service. Visitors can enjoy unique access to the borough’s historic collections alongside a state-of-the-art library and a range of spaces for meetings and study.

Events

• Southwark History Social - fourth Wednesday of every month, 6pm to 7.30pm.
  Explore Southwark's worldly museum collections and stories while meeting new people. For ages 18-35. Contact museum@southwark.gov.uk for booking details.
• Heritage and book group - last Monday of every month, 6.30pm to 7.30pm.
  Share your thoughts on this month's book and discover a related item from the heritage collection. Contact Stefano Battaglia for more details.
• Special events - see Southwark Presents for more heritage events. 

On display

• Southwark Today exhibition - this temporary exhibition shares the voices and perspectives of the people who make up Southwark today. It was created with a range of community groups to creatively draw out and document their stories. Until 30 June 2023.
• The Story of Southwark exhibition gallery - this permanent display from the council’s heritage collections delves into the themes of Place, People, Work and Play.

Meeting rooms and event spaces

• The Faraday Room - A unique experience for your meeting. This digitally silent space is inspired by local inventor Michael Faraday and the concept of the Faraday cage. Book this space if you want to switch off and focus
• Activity room -  A convenient space for small group workshops and events
• The Stairplace - With seating for 50 people, this flexible event space is perfect for talks, story times and performances
• The Lounge - This bookable meeting room doubles as a reading space with 14 seats around the table plus 14 couch seats

Walworth Library

The building is also home to Walworth Library. Browse 20,000 books and find inspiration in the historical artefacts you’ll discover among the shelves. The space also provides bookable public PCs for adults and children, quiet study spaces and a mix of comfortable and casual seating.  

Accessibility

• flat access to the library
• lift access to all floors
• disabled access toilet
• computers offer access to Dolphin Supernova software (which allows screen magnification and audio assistance for the visually impaired)

Page last updated: 16 April 2024