Central Library, 126 Royal Avenue, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT1 1EA

Belfast Central Library, Royal Avenue

Belfast Central Library is a detached, symmetrical, classical public library built in red sandstone between 1884 and 1888 to designs by William Henry Lynn, one of Belfast's most prominent Victorian architects. The building faces southeast onto Royal Avenue, with Kent Street to its south side and Library Street to its north side. It stands as one of Belfast's most notable late Victorian civic buildings, its scale and distinctive red colouring making it a landmark in the streetscape. Two later extensions were added to the rear: a seven-storey block built around 1960 and a two-storey rendered extension built around 1980.

Exterior

The principal facade is square on plan and seven windows wide, with three storeys and advanced end bays. The roof is slate with glazed lantern sections hidden behind a balustraded parapet wall with moulded coping; no rainwater goods are visible from the exterior.

The walling is coursed red sandstone ashlar, rusticated in a banded pattern at ground floor level. Below the sill line there is a flush granite course, and the building sits on a stepped polished black granite plinth — the black granite sourced from the Ballachulish quarries in Argyllshire, Scotland. The blocks were cut, polished and shipped from Glasgow; the first cargo was lost at sea, requiring the entire quantity to be re-quarried, cut and polished again, which delayed construction by a year and nine months. The remainder of the building is of red Dumfries sandstone from Annan, diagonally tooled in the workshops of the contractors, H & J Martin, on the Ormeau Road.

The ground floor is topped by a dentilled cornice and contains five round arches with scrolled keystones, flanked by rusticated piers with stone steps leading to a recessed entrance portico. The two outer arches contain bipartite windows with stone mullions, decoratively carved overpanels, shouldered fixed-pane timber windows and granite balustrades. The central three arches form the portico, which is groin-vaulted inside with round-headed openings containing fixed-pane timber windows and a central swivel door set in a polished black granite surround. The ground floor windows are square-headed with stepped surrounds and splayed flush sills. The entrance steps are of Castlewellan granite.

The first floor is Corinthian colonnaded with square-headed window openings set within round-headed recesses. Each opening has architrave surrounds, a fluted frieze, decoratively carved overpanels, scrolled keystones and festoons. To the end bays, windows are framed by paired Corinthian pilasters. A balustraded balcony spans the entire central bay, supported on paired console brackets. The first floor is finished with a continuous entablature and a crown cornice enriched with dentils and modillions. Raised lettering on the frieze of this cornice reads '18 BELFAST PUBLIC LIBRARY 88'.

The second floor takes the form of an attic storey with semi-circular Diocletian window openings framed by large console brackets and swags — the swags of fabric being intentional representations of folded linen drapery, acknowledging the linen industry upon which Belfast's prosperity at this period so heavily depended. Raised-and-fielded stone panels to the end bays are framed by piers. A further dentilled entablature runs above the second floor windows.

The south side elevation is six windows wide, largely detailed in the same manner as the front, with Corinthian pilasters to the first floor and an advanced end bay. The north side elevation matches the south. The rear elevation is in redbrick, abutted by the seven-storey extension to the south end and the two-storey rendered extension to the north end. Early photographs show that the building originally had prominent chimneys visible at the front elevation.

Interior

The interior is equally fine, with colonnaded and top-lit rooms accessed by a grand staircase combining iron and stone. The entrance hall is covered with granite flags, and the pillars in the hall have polished granite bases. The main stairs leading to the libraries and reading rooms are of Yorkshire granite.

The original ground floor arrangement comprised a reading room to the left, which had a floor set with Sutherland tiles in two colours, and a lending library to the right with a patent oak floor. The lending library had a counter of Spanish mahogany, cast iron pillars originally painted to resemble polished marble, and five swing doors hung with Stevens and Major's patent hydraulic springs. A boiler house to the rear fed hot water pipes running under the floors. A patent hydraulic lift originally served all floors.

On the first floor were a students' room, a library and ladies' room, a reference library and a reading room. The second floor originally housed a picture gallery across two rooms, one of which could also serve as a lecture room.

The balustrading of the staircase was completed in wrought iron by Brawn of Birmingham at a cost of approximately £260. The hall pillars were originally finished in Keen's cement to resemble marble. The plastering contract, initially awarded to a Scottish firm, was reassigned following a deputation of Belfast artisans to the council; the work was ultimately carried out by H & J Martin and was described at the time as being in a style that 'cannot be surpassed'. Brett has drawn attention to the 'rather splendid domed reference library', and Larmour describes the building as 'a very refined classical composition… very French in style'.

Historical Background

The library was built following Belfast Town Council's adoption in 1882 of the Libraries Acts of 1855 and 1877, which allowed the town to establish a free public library funded by a levy on the rates. By 1880 only two such public libraries had been built under these Acts in Ireland — in Dundalk (1858) and Sligo (1880) — and many Irish towns subsequently required a Carnegie donation before establishing a library. In Belfast, however, a vote on adoption of the Act passed with a very large majority, and the library was built without any outside financial assistance. The existing libraries in the town — the People's Library on Donegall Street, the fee-paying Linen Hall Library (established 1788) and the Working Men's Institute (1872) — had been overtaken by growing demand and the town's rapidly rising population.

A competition was held in 1883, which Lynn won with a first premium of £100. Following his selection, the council yielded to pressure to increase the size of the site, requiring alterations to Lynn's plans. The foundation stone was laid on Wednesday 18th June 1884 by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl Spencer. On the same day, a Mr A G Massey of High Street took a photograph which was presented to the Lord Lieutenant, his rapid despatch in photography being commended in the Belfast Newsletter. The contractors were Messrs H & J Martin, who had begun work in May of that year.

The library was opened on Saturday 13th October 1888 by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Marquess of Londonderry, who on that same occasion, on behalf of Queen Victoria, ceremonially granted city status to Belfast. The lending department opened a few weeks later on 15th November 1888. The library initially had capacity for 20,000 books but opened with a collection of 8,000. Borrowers purchased a form for the modest sum of a penny, to be signed by two householders of Belfast; on approval, the borrower received a cardboard ticket renewed annually. Books were listed in Cotgreave's patent indicator, which showed red if a book was in and blue if it was out, with the book being brought to the borrower at the counter. Only one book could be borrowed at a time; a fine of a penny per week was charged for overdue volumes, and a penalty of £5 was imposed for borrowing a book while suffering from an infectious disease.

Once constructed, the building was described as 'unequalled by any building in Ireland'. A number of prominent people, including Sir Charles Lanyon, had pressed for the building to contain an art gallery and museum as well as a library, and when it opened, a large number of works of art were exhibited on loan from prominent local people. A surviving catalogue lists works attributed to Constable, Gainsborough, Caravaggio, Breughel and Van Eyck, among others.

The library received numerous donations: over four thousand volumes from the late Sir James Hamilton; more than 2,000 volumes from Isaac Pitman of Bath, the inventor of the phonograph; several marble figures from a Mr Dunville; and a bust of Queen Victoria from Lady Harland. There was also controversy over the appointment of the Librarian: the Town Council chose GH Elliott from Gateshead, a non-resident of Ulster. Despite protests, the Council upheld the appointment and Elliott remained in post until at least 1910.

Towards the rear of the library were artists' workrooms, perhaps intended to support the artisans of Belfast whose skills in sculpting, plastering and painting were much in demand at the time.

Valuation records of 1900 record the principal building costs: £15,430 to the building contractors, £2,057 for plastering, £661 for plumbing and £605 for extras, with annual maintenance costs of £4,000 and a valuation of £1,290. By 1900 the library also housed the Grainger Museum, a collection of scientific and natural curiosities presented by the late Reverend Canon Grainger. The library, museum and art gallery were a popular attraction: on Easter Monday and Tuesday 1900, 7,180 visitors passed through the doors.

In 1929, following the opening of the new museum and art gallery on the Stranmillis Road, the art and other collections were transferred from the library.

The building sits on land that was formerly part of John Street and Hercules Street — an area almost entirely populated by butchers and considered an unhealthy and unsavoury part of the town. The area was demolished in 1880–1 by the Town Council, and the new Royal Avenue was laid out as a spectacular boulevard running from Donegall Square to York Street. Cornice heights were strictly regulated, producing a particularly cohesive streetscape, especially among the surviving Victorian and Edwardian buildings.

Alterations and Restoration

The building was damaged by bombs during the Belfast Blitz, and repairs were undertaken in 1956. In the early 1970s a decision was made to sandblast the building in an attempt to clean it — subsequently described as catastrophic — resulting in significant loss of carved detail. Further bomb damage was sustained in 1976. Storage facilities were added to the rear in the 1970s and 1980s, and this portion of the building has been earmarked for redevelopment.

Between 2009 and 2011 a full-scale restoration of the building was carried out under the supervision of architects Knox and Markwell, using sandstone from the Locharbriggs quarry in Dumfries — the same source as the original building stone. Defective stonework and inappropriate earlier repairs were replaced, and the roofs and leadwork restored. At upper levels, Jahn restoration mortar was used, a material which could be hand-tooled, cast or moulded as required. Internal restoration and redecoration also took place during this period. The building remains in use as a public library.