Arts Centre Including Dwarf Wall Enclosing Queens Square

The Arts Centre, which includes a dwarf wall enclosing Queen's Square, was originally built as a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in 1819. It features ashlar stonework and has a pitched slate roof. The building is two storeys high and has six ranges of sash windows with marginal glazing bars. The first-floor windows are round-arched and set within concentric recessed panels, with a row of blind oblong panels at the mezzanine level. A central Venetian window on the first floor is adorned with a blind balustrade featuring vase-shaped balusters, Ionic columns, a dentilled transom, and a fanlight, all within a tetrastyle Roman Doric porch. The façade has a blind parapet with a moulded cornice and a pediment over the central five bays, which includes oval oculi in the tympanum. The flanking bays each contain one window range, with first-floor windows similar to those described, and doors featuring fielded panels, fanlights, moulded surrounds, and segmental pediments. There is a plaque inscribed "The Wesleyan Chapel MDCCCXIX". Queen's Square is paved with stone flags, and in front of the building is a dwarf wall with cast iron railings that have spear and vase finials. The entrance features three pairs of gate piers with panelled sides, moulded tops, and fluted urn finials. Inside, there are notable neo-classical monuments, particularly one dedicated to George Wilson (died 1837), signed by Walsh and Dunbar of Leeds, along with monuments to the Rev Mark Day (died 1823), Timothy Bentley of Lockwood (died 1830), and Mary Carr (died 1832), all signed by W Williams.