Ashton Public Library

ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE OLD STREET SJ 99 NW (north side)

4/28 Ashton Public - Library 15.12.86

• II Library and formerly a school. 1891-3. By John Eaton and Sons. Ashlar with slate roof. Asymmetrical plan with 2 and 3 storeys steps back to accommodate the site and has a 7-bay 1-storey wing to left. Gothic style. A large tower with pyramidal roof dominates the design. It has a 3-arched entrance on columns with naturalistic capitals beneath a pierced parapet and enriched gable. Second floor mullion and transom window beneath an arch with carved tympanum has a pierced balcony. Octagonal stair turret to right has lancet windows and a conical roof and is balanced at the other corners by tourelles. Decorative vanes add to the distinctive skyline. The bays to either side of the tower have various oriel windows, segmental-headed windows and blind cusped openings; the left one has a coped gable with decorative finial. The left wing (originally the school) has weathered gableted buttresses and segmental-headed windows beneath arched recesses. Bay 1 terminates the composition as a gabled projection with an oriel window flanked by cusped niches. The original interior is virtually complete retaining mosaic floors, glazed tiles, plasterwork and glazed doors and screens. The library is housed in a large room with a gallery on 4 sides supported on enriched cast- iron columns and with a decorative balustrade.

Listing NGR: SJ9361598950