Netherton Public Hall and Free Library

Netherton Public Hall and Free Library

A public hall and former public library built in 1893–1894 to the designs of Thomas Grazebrook in a loosely Queen Anne style.

The building is constructed of red brick, laid in English bond, with terracotta and sandstone dressings and a slate roof. The plan comprises two storeys with a basement and attic, and incorporates a clock tower. The single-storey hall contains a gallery and extends from the south-west to the north-east with two entrances onto the street frontage. The library is positioned to the south-east, also accessed from the street.

The street frontage to the south-west is shared by both the hall and library, forming a façade of twelve bays overall. The nine bays to the left compose a symmetrical arrangement. At its centre stands a frontispiece, formed of a doorway flanked by pairs of Tuscan columns supporting an entablature with a swan's neck pediment. Above, at first floor level, is a round-arched window with Gibbs surround, flanked by panelled pilasters. Higher still, two panels with swags connect to the clock face, which has a lugged and shouldered sandstone surround. The tall hipped roof above the clock tower terminates in wrought iron cresting. To either side of this central feature are further similar door surrounds with triangular pediments. The frieze above both central and north door is incised with "PUBLIC HALL", while the south door is incised with "FREE LIBRARY". Windows across the front are top-hung casements with plate glass over fixed lights. Above each door bay on the skyline are shaped gables surrounding round windows. The three bays to the right of the symmetrical composition have windows under rubbed brick flat arches. The two left-hand doors of the principal façade lead to the hall, with the right-hand door leading to the former library.

The north elevation begins with one bay to the right that continues the street front pattern. To the left, the two-storey hall steps back from the façade with six further bays delineated by brick pilasters. Between the four right-hand bays are tall window openings under moulded segmental arches, with a stepped brick cornice featuring dentil detail above them. The right-hand bay has an inserted fire escape. To the left is a blind bay followed by an additional wider window under an identical arch in the end bay. This elevation is partly obscured by late twentieth-century single-storey additions to the north.

The rear comprises a library extension of approximately 1933 to the left and single-storey extensions dating from the late twentieth century flanking the hall.

The interior features a wide corridor at ground floor level serving as a lobby to the hall, running parallel to the street. At its north-west end is a curving staircase with stone treads leading to the hall gallery, fitted with a curving timber rail and decorative cast-iron balusters. The hall itself has pilasters to the walls and a panelled ceiling, with a proscenium arch at the north-east end. The gallery is situated at the south-west end and contains a solid balustrade with moulded pilasters and panel detailing, retaining original seating. Two entrances on the north wall contain original five-panel double doors, each with a shouldered architrave and moulded pediment above.

To the south-west of the hall lies the library's original reading room, featuring a now-blocked issue hatch on the east wall. Cornicing survives, though other fittings have been removed. The 1933 library extension to the rear has a timber ceiling with suspended ball finials and retains original tongue and groove panelling and skirting boards below dado height, together with much of the rail. This room originally extended further south but was partitioned in the late twentieth century.

The late twentieth-century extensions to the north of the hall contain a corridor and dressing rooms.