Dartford Borough Museum and Library is a library in the town centre of Dartford, Kent, England. It was originally a house and gardens in the 1800s but was later a bank and became known as Bank House. It later became the local Conservative Club and then municipal offices and the extensive gardens were opened to the public.
The library opened in 1916 by A. W. Smale, the Chairman of the Dartford Urban District Council, and W. A. Ward, Chairman of the Library Committee. The first browsers in the library were soldiers in World War I who was staying in nearby military hospitals and recovering from wounds received while serving in the trenches. The Dartford Central Library was constructed with the aid of a grant from the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. It was designed by Thomas E. Tiffin AMICE, the then Dartford Urban District Council Surveyor. The library is made from Portland and York stone, and was built by Messrs H. Friday and Sons and Ling originally in Bath, England.
In the 1930s the library was expanded and extended over what was once the Dartford tin works. During the Second World War it served as an air raid watchpost. The library is open from 8:30 am to 6 pm most weekdays except Thursday and is run by Kent County Council.[1] The building is listed as a Grade II listed building. The library is reportedly haunted and has been subject to a paranormal investigations by Most Haunted.[2]Employees and visitors to the library have reported being touched without explanation, senses of being watched, footsteps, strong old-fashioned scents and have witnessed books falling off shelves in unexplained fashion despite being securely on the bookcase.
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