Literary and Scientific Institute is a Grade II listed building in the Wiltshire local planning authority area, England. Institute, school. 5 related planning applications.
Literary and Scientific Institute
- WRENN ID
- wild-lead-coral
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Wiltshire
- Constituency
- Melksham and Devizes MP: Brian Mathew (LD)
- Country
- England
- Type
- Institute, school
- Address
- Literary and Scientific Institute, 53, Northgate Street, Devizes, SN10 1JJ
- OS grid reference
- SU 002 616
- Coordinates
- 51.35366, -1.99753
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Literary and Scientific Institute, originally built as a school in 1822, is a three-storey building with a narrow front that is set well back from Northgate Street, featuring a forecourt. The upper floors are faced in Bath stone cut to resemble brick, while the ground floor and plinth are made of ashlar. The building has a shallow coved cornice and a blocking course, with the ends canted out over fanned bracket projections.
On the second floor, there is a centrally located two-light mullioned casement window with four-centred arches to the lights and top panes, surrounded by a splayed stone frame and small panelled spandrels, topped with a drip mould. Above this window is a small panel displaying the date. The first floor features a similar three-light window, with a rectangular panel below that has the inscription "British Schools." There is a full-width drip mould over the ground floor, which has two windows and a central door set in a similar surround to the windows above, complete with panelled spandrels. The ground floor windows are larger, with four-centred arches, six panes, sloping sills, and recessed panels below. The plank door, adorned with ornate wrought iron hinges, is also set under a four-centred arch. The building has curiosity value.
Nos 46 to 55, which are consecutive, form a group with this building.
Local climate
Literary and Scientific Institute receives an average of 820 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 52% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 56% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 36 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 60% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 5 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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