Library

The Library, formerly Shrewsbury Grammar School, is a Grade I listed building that was constructed in two phases, one in 1595 and the other in 1630. It is built from coursed and squared rubble, with the roof hidden behind a parapet. The layout features a main entrance range with a tower at the angle and a gabled cross range to the right.

The exterior of the entrance block, dating from 1630, is three storeys high and has a five-window range. It includes a central shallow segmental archway supported by fluted Corinthian columns on high bases, with two male figures standing on the columns and inscriptions in Greek beneath and between them, along with the date. There are four two-light chamfered mullioned windows on each side of the ground floor, with four-light mullioned and transomed windows above, and on the top storey, there are two- and three-light mullioned windows, one of which is cut by a carved Royal Arms featuring a lion and unicorn. The string courses display different Greek motifs, and the parapet features fleur-de-lys finials. Massive sundials are etched into the stonework on each facade.

To the right is the tower, which has six unequal stages, a blocked door at ground level, and mullioned windows of two and three lights, one in each stage, providing light to the stair within. The upper stage contains a clock, and the tower is topped with an embattled parapet and pinnacles. The earlier gabled range to the left, dated 1595, has a principal room at the first-floor level featuring a wide Decorated-style window, a smaller mullioned and transomed window on the lower storey, and a date stone with an inscription recording David Lloyd and Thomas Lewis. The lowest stage includes a chamfered segmentally-arched doorway and a narrow window.

Inside, the building features cambered trusses. The main hall in the earlier block has been extensively modified, with a ceiling that includes moulded tie beams and traceried decoration, which is a 19th-century alteration.