Former Wedgwood Institute (Public Library)

The former Wedgwood Institute, now a public library, was built in 1869 to serve as a library and art school. The original plans were created by G. B. Nichols of Wolverhampton, with modifications by Robert Edgar and John Lockwood Kipling. The building is constructed of brick with terracotta details and has a plain tiled roof. It stands two storeys tall, featuring a richly decorated facade with a central doorway set in a slightly advanced gabled porch. This porch is adorned with a terracotta frieze and shafts leading to an arched entry, flanked by busts in shallow niches, and surrounded by tiles around the archway. Above the entrance is a bust of Josiah Wedgwood.

The windows create a continuous arcade on both storeys, and between the storeys are ten bas-relief terracotta panels by M. H. Blanchard or Rowland Morris, illustrating various processes in pottery manufacture. Above the upper windows, there is another series of terracotta panels set in arcading that depict the months of the year, along with an additional arcade featuring mosaic signs of the zodiac. The building has a heavy eaves cornice supported by console brackets, with a terracotta frieze of pierced quatrefoils above. The architectural ornamentation, excluding the applied sculpture, extends around the side elevations for several bays.