South Library

This is a public library built in 1915-16, designed by Mervyn Macartney. It is constructed of Portland stone, thin red brick with occasional blue bricks in English bond, with rubbed brick dressings and yellow brick to the stair tower. The roof is of Welsh slate. The building has two storeys and a five-window facade to Essex Road. The central three bays are flanked by four giant pilasters made of rubbed, cut and moulded brick, while the outer bays are slightly wider. A Portland stone plinth features crisp lettering to the foundation stone. The segmental-arched entrance is flanked by Corinthian columns supporting an open scrolled pediment displaying the Borough coat of arms, above a doorcase with pilasters, an entablature with a pulvinated frieze, and a cornice. The ground-floor windows are also segmental-arched, with eared architraves of moulded and rubbed brick, keystones, and recessed 15/15 sash windows. Above the central windows are blank oval oculi. The upper-floor windows are flat-arched with arrises of rubbed brick, set almost flush with the wall, featuring 12/12 sash windows. The right-hand window has a generous apron of rubbed brick. A stone entablature, pulvinated frieze, and modillion cornice are topped by a brick parapet and stone coping. The design continues around the corner into Halton Cross Street for two bays, with curved recessed corners. A single-storey wing on Halton Cross Street has flat-arched windows with gauged brick heads, a brick band, and recessed panels to the parapet, terminating in a five-sided bay with a Venetian window and a stepped parapet with consoles. An oval stair tower is situated in the angle between the Essex Road and Halton Cross Street wings. The interior vestibule is panelled in grey-white marble with superimposed pilasters supporting a domical vault. The staircase hall is oval in plan, featuring a black-and-white marble floor, a geometrical stair, and wrought iron balusters. The principal ground-floor room to Essex Road has hardwood architraves to the windows and doorcases, which have segmental pediments. The Venetian window in the Halton Cross Street wing has a fully-detailed architrave, curved in plan. The first-floor room to Essex Road features engaged and free-standing Doric columns supporting a shallow coved roof with a shallow dome and lantern, along with a panelled dado and architraves to the door and the oval oculi.