Christian Science Reading Room

The Christian Science Reading Room is a town house that was used as a school from around 1810 to 1845, and it has been repurposed as a reading room. The building dates back to around 1600, with an addition made to the left side around 1810, and it was refronted and had a rear addition in 1849 by William Gibbs. The exterior features painted brick with exposed timber framing on the left return and a double-span tile roof.

It is a two-storey structure with an attic and has a symmetrical three-window arrangement. The wide eaves enhance its appearance. The entrance is marked by a porch that includes panelled angle pilasters, a traceried frieze, a cornice with angle pinnacles and finials, and an architrave leading to a panelled door.

The two-storey bay windows are adorned with fielded-panelled pilaster strips and cornices, featuring 1:4:1-light transomed casements with leaded glazing and iron opening lights. The central first-floor window has an offset sill and a label mould above a cross-casement with leaded glazing. The attic contains three gabled dormers with two-light leaded casements, the central one having enriched barge-boards and a finial.

On the left return, there are enriched barge-boards and a single-storey window with an attic, originally built as a schoolroom and dormitory, which features a modillioned brick cornice and a segmental-headed carriage entrance at the left end. The entrance on the right end has a doorcase with triple shafts and an ogival hood, with a 20th-century fanlight above a door made up of three pointed panels. A window on this side has fluted pilaster strips and plate glass, along with a 20th-century gabled dormer.

The right return features enriched barge-boards, a hipped bay window with a nine-pane sash, and various sashed windows with wedge lintels. The rear of the building has four first-floor windows with rusticated wedge lintels above 12-pane sashes.