Eccles Central Library is a Grade II listed building in the Salford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 16 July 1987. Library. 1 related planning application.
Eccles Central Library
- WRENN ID
- guardian-tin-pine
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Salford
- Constituency
- Worsley and Eccles MP: Michael Wheeler (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 16 July 1987
- Type
- Library
- Address
- Eccles Central Library, Church Street, M30 0EP
- OS grid reference
- SJ 775 985
- Coordinates
- 53.48286, -2.33932
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Eccles Central Library is a public library built in 1907, with single-storey additions made in 1971. Designed by Edward Potts, the library is constructed of brick with terra-cotta dressings and features a stone slate roof. It has four bays and two storeys, with a fifth bay set back to the right and the 1971 additions located at the rear and left. The building showcases a mixed Renaissance style.
The main entrance features double doors in the second bay, topped with a fanlight and an open pediment supported by Ionic three-quarter columns, which frame a coat of arms. Wide flat pilasters on either side support an enriched cornice and parapet, adorned with scrolled coping and enriched panels. The tripartite windows are set below semi-circular arches, with bold radiating voussoirs. The first floor has paired windows separated by Ionic columns. A prominent feature of the library is the elaborate canted bay window, which includes a swag frieze at first floor level and an octagonal belvedere with a domed roof set back behind a balustrade.
The right return and rear of the building incorporate similar architectural details, though to a lesser extent. Inside, the library boasts a large two-storey hall with full-height round-arched arcades on each side, two of which are blind, leading to a walkway at first floor level. The vaulted ceiling includes a clerestory, and the interior features stained glass along with some original timber and iron fittings. The 20th-century additions are not considered of special interest.
Local climate
Eccles Central Library sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,060 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 85% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 77% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 23 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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