Lyceum And Art School

The Lyceum and Art School is a building complex located on Union Street in Oldham. The Lyceum was constructed in 1856, and the Art School was added to the right in 1881. The original architect was Pennington of Manchester. The buildings are made of ashlar stone, with a rusticated ground floor and a Welsh slate roof. They are designed in a symmetrical style, with both buildings being two stories high and featuring a seven-window range with a central entrance.

The Lyceum, located on the left, has a round-arched doorway flanked by rusticated and chamfered stonework, with paired eight-panelled doors set in an advanced architrave that is decorated with low-relief carving. There are three two-pane sash windows on each side of the entrance, and the upper windows are round-arched with low relief panelling above and below, creating a continuous arcade at the first-floor level. Laurel wreaths in low relief are positioned above the windows, and a Greek key frieze runs along the building. An elaborate tripartite window is situated above the entrance, featuring foliate capitals on the architrave, a round-arched central light, and segmental glazing that forms the outer arch. A cast-iron balconette is also present. The cornice over this bay is adorned with modillions and foliate emblems, and it has a shallow segmental pediment inscribed with the word "Lyceum." Urns are placed on top of the panelled parapet.

The Art School is similarly detailed but has a plainer squared architrave and overlight at its entrance bay, which is supported by heavily rusticated piers. This bay features a pediment inscribed with "Science and Art." The return elevations facing Clegg Street and Greaves Street are also detailed in a similar manner. The property is enclosed by heavy decorated cast-iron railings on a low plinth wall, with stone piers at the corners and on each side of the entrance steps, topped with cast-iron globe lamps. The Lyceum was designed to include a newsroom, reading room, library, lecture rooms, committee and club rooms, classrooms, and an observatory.