Description

SHREWSBURY

SJ4912NW CASTLE GATES
653-1/11/153 (West side)
10/01/53 Library
(Formerly Listed as:
CASTLE GATES
(West side)
Museum and Library)

GV I

Library, formerly Shrewsbury Grammar School. 2 phases, one
dated 1595, the other dated 1630. Coursed and squared rubble,
with roof not visible behind parapet.
PLAN: main entrance range, with tower at angle, and gabled
cross range beyond to right.
EXTERIOR: entrance block of 1630, 3 storeys, 5-window range
with central shallow segmental archway with fluted Corinthian
columns on high bases. 2 male figures stand on the columns,
with inscriptions in Greek beneath and between them, and the
date. Four 2-light chamfered mullioned windows each side to
ground floor, 4-light mullioned and transomed windows over,
and on top storey, 2- and 3-light mullioned windows, one cut
by carved Royal Arms with lion and unicorn. String courses are
Greek motifs, each different. Parapet which sweeps up into
fleur-de-lys finials. Decorated window in gable end, lighting
principal room within. Massive sundials etched onto stonework
on each facade.
Tower to the right, 6 unequal stages, with blocked door to
ground floor, then mullioned windows of 2 and 3 lights, one to
each stage, lighting stair within. Clock in upper stage.
Embattled parapet with pinnacles.
Earlier gabled range to left dated 1595. Principal room at
first-floor level, with wide Decorated-style window. Smaller
mullioned and transomed window to lower storey, and date stone
with inscription recording David Lloyd and Thomas Lewis.
Chamfered segmentally-arched doorway and narrow window in the
lowest stage.
INTERIOR: cambered trusses. In the earlier block, the main
hall has been extensively modified, and the ceiling, with
moulded tie beams and traceried decoration, is a C19
alteration.

Listing NGR: SJ4937012803

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Shrewsbury Library at Wikipedia
• Shrewsbury Library official website
• Wikidata Q7503684

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

• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2