Description

WIGAN

SD5805SW RODNEY STREET
24-1/8/59 (North West side)
15/06/88 Wigan History Shop and Careers
Office
(Formerly Listed as:
RODNEY STREET
Wigan Central Library)

GV II

Public library, now shop and office. 1877, by Alfred
Waterhouse. Red brick in English bond, with dressings of
sandstone and patent ceramic, graduated slate roof. T-plan,
with entrance, staircase and offices in block facing Rodney
Street, library in long rear wing parallel to Library Street.
Elizabethan Revival style with some Gothic features.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys with basement and attics. The entrance
front has a large 2-centred arched doorway to the left, of
pale patent ceramic in Gothic style, with set-in colonnettes,
moulded arch and a gable with a roundel containing a relief
profile of Dante; above this, a pair of narrow transomed and
cusped windows with linked hood-moulds; to the right, a
stepped pair of cusped lancet stair windows with hood-moulds,
and a 4-light 1st-floor window; and twin gables each with a
3-light mullioned attic window. The facade to Library Street
is a symmetrical composition consisting of a 4-bay rear wing
set back from the street between the gable of the front range
and a balancing projected gable to the right: the former has a
chimney-stack extruded from 1st floor level with a carved coat
of arms in the base, and triple cylindrical chimneys; the wing
has buttresses with offsets, tall 2-light windows at ground
floor, 3-light mullioned windows at 1st floor with shouldered
lights, a corbel table, a parapet and 3-light dormers with
hipped roofs. Basement area protected by wrought-iron railings
with dogbars, scrolled panels and triple spikes.
INTERIOR: original balconies, shelving, decorative iron and
wooden fencing; good staircase with iron balustrade; aisled
upper floor with galleries, arch-braced roof trusses. An
unusually unaltered municipal library by a well-known
architect.

Listing NGR: SD5837005459

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26664344

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.

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