Civic Theatre

The Civic Theatre, built in 1879 and given by John Rylands, originally served as a free public library, overseer's office, and lecture rooms, and is now used as offices. The building is constructed of brick with ashlar dressings and features a slate roof. It has a symmetrical elevation with nine bays and two storeys, designed in a mixed Gothic Revival style. The central entrance is flanked by a tower. The ground floor has paired sash windows separated by colonnettes, with carved roundels above the arched stone lintels. There is foliated carving along the impost band. The first floor features sash windows with ornate cast-iron balconies, although the window in the eighth bay has been reduced in height. A coped parapet sits above a crocket frieze, and a three-light gabled dormer window disrupts the symmetry. Bold stone pinnacles project from the corners. The tower includes grand panelled double doors beneath a moulded arch, a balcony with a cast-iron parapet at the third stage, clock faces, a machicolated frieze, and a steep pyramidal roof.

Inside, the central stair hall is surrounded by quatrefoil columns with carved capitals. Notable interior features include coloured floor tiles, glazed wall tiles, panelled doors with elaborate surrounds, plaster cornices, and a grand stair with a roll-moulded rail and prominent newel post.