Southport Library

Southport Library, located on Lord Street, was built in 1879 for the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank and has since been altered. The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar with a slate roof and is designed in the Renaissance style. It has a rectangular plan situated on a corner site, with its main axis parallel to Eastbank Street.

The library features three storeys and an attic, each storey decreasing in height. The facades consist of three bays facing Lord Street and seven bays facing Eastbank Street. The ground floor showcases channelled pilasters topped with crocketed caps, along with a frieze and cornice. The upper floors are adorned with paired colonnettes featuring foliated caps, a frieze, and a cornice. The second floor is capped with a balustraded parapet, which is interrupted in the center of each facade by a pedimented attic window.

On the ground floor, the first bay of the Lord Street facade and the center bay of the Eastbank Street facade each have a large round-headed doorway with a moulded head, keystone, and carved spandrels. The remaining bays feature tall pilastered 2-light windows, except for the three bays to the right on Eastbank Street (Nos. 5, 7, and 9), which have inserted shop fronts. The first floor contains pilastered windows with two round-headed lights in each bay, complete with moulded heads and keystones. The second floor has pairs of segmental-headed windows with moulded architraves.

Inside, the former banking hall boasts a coffered ceiling with elaborate classical enrichment. The library forms a group with the adjoining Atkinson Library and Art Gallery, as well as the Southport Arts Centre linked to it.