Description

BARROW IN FURNESS

SD1969SE DUKE STREET
708-1/12/63 (North East side)
06/05/76 Public Library, Museum and forecourt
wall and railings facing Ramsden
Square
(Formerly Listed as:
DUKE STREET
(North East side)
Public Library and Museum in Ramsden
Square)

GV II

Public library and attached forecourt wall with railings.
1915-22. By JA Charles. Ashlar sandstone facade, graduated
slate and glazed roofs. 2 storeys, 4:3:4 bays in an open
V-plan; centre with projecting portico. Symmetrical, in
Beaux-Arts Classical style.
Plinth; channel-rustication to ends and centre; altered
fenestration. Central portico has giant Ionic columns in
central recess; double door with bayleaf hoodmould beneath
plaque with guttae and date 'ANNO DNI MCMXV'; margin-glazed
stair window above has shouldered surround with bayleaf-fasces
pendants. Frieze inscribed 'PUBLIC LIBRARY'; modillioned
cornice with Greek key ornament. Solid parapet with panels and
tasselled roundels. Blocking course with shallow triangular
head flanked by gadrooned vases with Greek-key rims and
eternal flames.
Each rusticated bay has tall window beneath square window,
raised surrounds with plain lintel panels. Bays 2-4 and 8-10
are slightly recessed and have ground floor windows in raised
panels and rectangular windows in the parapet. Modillioned
cornice continues from portico beneath parapet with tasselled
roundels over the rusticated bays. Wings have hipped mansard
roofs, the ridge sections glazed.
INTERIOR: black and white mosaic floor to the entrance hall;
curved staircase with cast-iron panels, oak handrail and
bollard newels. In each wing the ground-floor ceilings have
cross-beams on pilasters; Greek key and bayleaf motifs.
Centre-block ceiling is lower and has guilloche on the beams.
1st floor: lecture room (now museum) and reading room have
similar motifs together with cartouches and urns; arched
ceilings with bayleaf ribs.
Forecourt wall: gate piers opposite main entrance have iron
gates and incomplete lamp standards; dwarf walls with
intermediate piers linked by cross-braced railing panels in
groups of 3. Opened 1922 after a lapse in building during the
Great War. Lecture room converted to museum c1930. Original
fenestration shown in early photograph (Trescatheric).
(Trescatheric B: Barrow in Furness in Old Picture Postcards:
Netherlands: 1982-: PL 77).

Listing NGR: SD1960069439

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library at Wikipedia
• Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library official website
• Wikidata Q4863853

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair