Western Branch Library is a Grade II listed building in the Kingston upon Hull, City of local planning authority area, England. First listed on 21 January 1994. Library. 4 related planning applications.
Western Branch Library
- WRENN ID
- night-passage-crow
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Kingston upon Hull, City of
- Constituency
- Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice MP: Emma Hardy (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 21 January 1994
- Type
- Library
- Address
- Western Branch Library, Boulevard, HU3 3ED
- OS grid reference
- TA 080 278
- Coordinates
- 53.73601, -0.36409
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Western Branch Library, designed by architect W. Alfred Gelder, was opened in 1894. This building is constructed of brick with terracotta and ashlar dressings, topped with a slate roof, and is designed in the Renaissance Revival style. It features a rebuilt late 20th-century plinth, sill bands, string courses, a moulded wavy-topped parapet, and coped gables. The library is two storeys tall and has a seven-window range. The windows are primarily sashes, with six-pane upper lights and two-pane lower lights.
A prominent feature is the projecting central tower porch, which has octagonal buttresses topped with domed turrets, and a shaped gable with a triangular pediment that contains a louvred round opening. On the first floor, there is a canted stone bay window with a pediment and an ogee lead roof. The entrance below features heavy double pilasters and brackets supporting an open pediment, framing a round-arched entrance with panelled double doors and an overlight. Each side bay has a projecting centre with an ornamented pediment, topped with an arched moulded parapet and finial, with three windows on each floor. Between the floors, the inscription "Branch Public Library" is displayed in raised gilt lettering.
Inside, the library features two round-arched three-bay arcades with round columns, glazed doors, and screens.
Local climate
Western Branch Library receives an average of 770 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 65% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 63% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 29 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 67% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 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
- Sale history — 1 transaction since 2013
- Related listed building consents — 4 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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