Brighouse Library And Smith Art Gallery

The building is a public library and art gallery, originally constructed around 1840 as a private house for John Brooke, a local corn miller. It is built of dressed stone with a slate roof. The west front has a symmetrical design with three bays and features rusticated quoins, a cornice, and a blocking course. The doorway has large monolithic jambs, imposts, and a semi-circular arched head with a four-paned fan light, flanked by double pilasters, and is sheltered by a porch supported on double columns set upon a plinth, square in section externally and with Corinthian capitals internally. A full entablature sits above the doorway. Large, eight-paned sash windows with lugged architraves, a blocking course, and a cornice are located on either side. Above these, further windows have similar surrounds but with projecting sills on consoles. The right-hand return wall has seven widely spaced bays arranged as A B B A B B A. The outer and middle bays project forward, are quoined, and feature large triple windows within a spacious bow window on the ground floor. Heavy cast iron balconies are attached to these bays. All other windows are of a similar character to the west front. The roof is hipped. An early 20th-century extension has been added to provide purpose-built art gallery space.

Inside, the entrance hall contains an impressive staircase with decorative cast iron balustrading and a central well, supported on either side by Tuscan columns with a full entablature. Galleries run along three sides of the hall, and a domed cupola is present. The first-floor reading room retains remarkable carved oak panelling by the local craftsman H. P. Jackson (1867-1931). Original furnishings include a canopied settle, carved armchairs, and an overmantel.