Public Library Young Gallery

The Public Library and Young Gallery, located on Chipper Lane, was built in 1904 by A.C. Bothams, with the adjoining Young Gallery constructed by Mr. Blount between 1910 and 1913. The Library features a free Cotswold Tudor-Jacobean style and consists of three storeys made of ashlar stone. The central section is recessed between two slightly projecting gabled bays, with the right bay being wider. The gables have moulded copings, and there is a crenellated parapet between them, which includes four centred cusped arched openings. Below this, there is stone banding with quatrefoil panelling. The second-floor windows have string courses that step up over the ground floor windows.

On the ground floor, there is a large stone mullioned and transomed window with four centred arches for the lights, featuring Art Nouveau leaded panes. The entrance has a four centred arch with carved spandrels and three lights above, with a drip mould that steps up over the entire structure. The Young Gallery to the left has a string course that continues from the Library, with moulded coping on its parapet. The ashlar front of the gallery is slightly lower than that of the Library and is flanked by slender half-octagon turrets that rise above the parapet, topped with miniature crenellation.

At approximately the second-floor level, there is a large stone panel contained by the turrets, featuring a finely carved relief of roses. In the middle of the wall, there is a full-width six-light stone mullioned and transomed window, with the upper lights being blind. Below the window, resting on a plinth, is a panel with a dedicatory inscription. Above the window, a shallow coved cornice is decorated with rosettes and fleur-de-lys, along with miniature crenellation, creating a picturesque group.