Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 20 September 2021 to update the name and address and to reformat the text to current standards

SE 3220 NE
1/133

DRURY LANE (west side)
The Old Library

(Formerly listed as Wakefield Library)

GV
II

Library. 1905. In the Neo-Baroque style. Ashlar with slate roofs. Plinth and moulded eaves. East front, single storey, with taller gabled entrance tower. Central doorway with Ionic half-columned surround supporting entablature and decorated hood. Above a large semi-circular fanlight in a concave rusticated surround with shield above. The tower is articulated with tall rusticated Ionic pilasters, on bases, supporting an entablature with pulvinated frieze. Coped gable above has a small two light mullion window with hood mould. The roof of this tower is topped by a wooden cupola with leaded ogee cap and an ornate iron weathervane. The flanking wings each have two large round headed windows which project through the eaves and are topped with round hoods. The concave moulded window surround have decorated keystones, with below raised panels over rusticated bases. Between each pair of windows, a single down pipe with an ornate rainwater head inscribed '1905'. Either side are single circular windows with moulded surrounds and four keystones each. To the right a three bay addition, with a central round headed doorway with moulded surround and keystone, either side are single narrow windows also with moulded surrounds and keystones.

Interior: has central domed entrance hall, with three large rooms off, each with a shallow arched, moulded plaster ceiling.

Built with the assistance of -funds provided by the Carnegie Foundation.

Listing NGR: SE3287820782

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26562695

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

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990