William Brown Library and Museum is a Grade II* listed building in the Liverpool local planning authority area, England. First listed on 28 June 1952. A Victorian Museum and library. 24 related planning applications.

William Brown Library and Museum

WRENN ID
far-entrance-auburn
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Liverpool
Constituency
Liverpool Riverside MP: Kim Johnson (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
28 June 1952
Type
Museum and library
Address
William Brown Library and Museum, William Brown Street
OS grid reference
SJ 348 908
Coordinates
53.40998, -2.98116
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The William Brown Library and Museum is a museum and library built between 1857 and 1860, designed by Thomas Allom and later modified by John Weightman. After suffering war damage, the interior and the top of the facade were reconstructed by R. Bradbury. The building is made of stone and consists of one storey with a basement, featuring 17 bays. The basement is rusticated, and the projecting end bays are recessed behind Corinthian angle pilasters. The central hexastyle Corinthian portico has two rows of unfluted columns. The first-floor windows are adorned with architraves, entablatures, and panelled aprons. The end bay windows project and have pediments on consoles, with recessed panels and carved wreaths above the sashed windows that include glazing bars. There are steps leading to the portico, which is flanked by balustrading and two lion lamp standards.

Local climate

William Brown Library and Museum sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,080 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 86% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 75% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 19 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 81% of listed buildings. Of these, 9 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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  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 24 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
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