The Bickford Smith Institute And Attached Wall

The Bickford Smith Institute, which includes a library and clock tower, was built between 1883 and 1884. It is constructed from coursed and dressed granite and features a stone-coped Welsh slate roof with stone end stacks. The building is L-shaped with the clock tower located at the south-west corner. It has two storeys and a three-window arrangement on the first floor facing Institute Hill. The windows on the first floor are horned 2/2-pane sashes with chamfered jambs, flanked by gabled half dormers that contain horned 3/3-pane sashes. The ground floor has narrow horned 4/4-pane sashes set in 2-light square-headed windows with chamfered jambs.

On the elevation facing Cliff Road, there are similar narrow sashes in 2-light windows next to a full-height canted bay window, which also features similar sashes. To the right end wall, there is a porch with a plank door and moulded kneelers supporting a lean-to roof. The three-stage clock tower has a hoodmould over a chamfered pointed-arched doorway and a Caernarvon-arched window on the battered lower stage. The middle stage contains tall paired lancets, while the upper stage, which houses clocks on each face, is corbelled out and topped with a crenellated parapet. The spire is clad in sheet copper, added in 1991. The interior is plain, featuring panelled doors. A subsidiary feature includes a wall that curves from the clock tower to the front elevation on Institute Hill.