Heywood Area Central Library

Heywood Area Central Library is a library built between 1905 and 1906, designed by S.V. North and C. Callas. It features a combination of ashlar and brick with a Westmorland slate roof. The central entrance leads into a hall that provides access to reading rooms on either side and to two parallel wings that extend at right angles to the facade. There is a small extension added in 1973 to the right of the building.

The library is designed in the Edwardian Free Style, incorporating Baroque and Elizabethan elements. The facade is symmetrical, consisting of three bays and one storey, with an attic storey in the large gable above the central bay. Coupled Ionic semi-columns support an open entablature and a semi-circular hood, which features reclining figures on either side, egg and dart enrichment, and a triple keystone above the semi-circular door head that includes a date plaque and an elaborate cartouche.

The hood transitions into a six-light bolection moulded mullioned window in the attic storey, which is set within a steeply pitched coped gable adorned with classical enrichment. The bay windows extend above and interrupt the entablature, which continues around the side elevations, where the detailing of the gable and windows remains rich and varied. The rear wings of the library are more plain in comparison.