Carnegie Public Library is a Grade II listed building in the Hyndburn local planning authority area, England. First listed on 9 March 1984. Library. 2 related planning applications.
Carnegie Public Library
- WRENN ID
- lost-groin-thunder
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Hyndburn
- Constituency
- Hyndburn MP: Sarah Smith (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 9 March 1984
- Type
- Library
- Address
- Carnegie Public Library, St James Street, BB5 1NQ
- OS grid reference
- SD 759 285
- Coordinates
- 53.75252, -2.36668
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Carnegie Public Library, built between 1906 and 1908 by W.J. Newton, is a public library located on St. James Street. It features an ashlar facade with coursed sandstone side walls and a slate roof that has two ventilators on the ridge. The building is designed in the Renaissance style, comprising five bays and two storeys. The ground floor exhibits channelled rustication, while the first floor is adorned with a Corinthian pilaster and a dentilled string course, topped by a dentilled cornice and a balustraded parapet.
On the right side, there is a door with a keystone that features the face of Shakespeare, set within an Ionic porch with polished columns. The ground floor has four rectangular windows, each with figured keystones representing literary figures such as Dante and Milton. Above the balustrade, which is false except over the porch, are five round-headed windows. A frieze inscribed with "CARNEGIE PUBLIC LIBRARY" adds to the building's character.
Inside, there is a large stairlight with stained glass in the Art Nouveau style, featuring the phrases "KNOWLEDGE IS POWER" and "A LIGHT TO GUIDE," along with the Accrington Corporation Coat of Arms and its motto "INDUSTRY AND PRUDENCE CONQUER." The library is adjacent to the Mechanics Institution.
Local climate
Carnegie Public Library sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,280 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 94% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 89% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 51 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 93% of listed buildings. Of these, 28 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 — 2 applications
- 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
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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