Ruthin Library

Ruthin Library

A single-storey T-shaped hall with a monumental front elevation. The building is approached through a tetrastyle Roman Doric portico of fine sandstone ashlar, comprising four columns with a wider central span. The portico features an entablature with triglyph frieze and dentilled triangular pediment. A high plinth with six steps leads to the entrance at the centre. The front of the main range is also of sandstone ashlar. At the centre is a large recessed round-arched entrance with an impost band. Flanking parapets sit on a moulded string course either side of the portico. Within the recessed arch is a rectangular doorway with double panelled doors beneath an inscribed slate tympanum reading: "The Magistrates of this County, at the expense of the inhabitants, for the convenience of the courts of law, and safety of the public records, erected these in the years of Christ MDCCLXXXV-VII, Architect, Joseph Turner". Above the inscription is a shield bearing a lion and festoons. An iron globe lamp is fixed on a bracket above the door. Aligned with the front elevation but slightly set back are lower flanking walls of coursed dressed sandstone with flat copings. At the centre of each wall is a slightly-advanced archway with raised segmental pediment, containing round-arched doorways of pointed-ended stone voussoirs with boarded doors.

The sides and wings are constructed of coursed grey stone beneath slate roofs, hipped to the rear. A moulded eaves cornice runs around, with yellow sandstone dressings to openings. Most windows are small-pane sashes. The east side features a 12-pane sash to the far right, with higher eaves to the left. An inset 20th-century panelled door sits towards the centre, and a large Venetian window in a heavily moulded surround lies to the left. Immediately to the left is a gabled wing at right angles with a stone end stack. Its front is two-storeys with one window: a 12-pane sash above a 2-light casement with quarries. A 20th-century panelled door is positioned at the east end. Against the rear of the wing and extending east over a through-passage is a later block of snecked stone beneath a hipped roof. This block has lean-tos and small windows to the north, and a large tripartite sash beneath a segmental head of stone voussoirs to the south. The through-passage has a cambered stone head.

The west side of the main range matches the east in character. The west wing features a moulded triangular pediment to its gable apex and has no openings beneath. Behind it is a large block, probably original, of coursed rubble stone on a plinth beneath a hipped roof, with a large Venetian window to the west end. Its rear (south) side has a small window to the left and a further hipped-roofed lean-to containing a sash and door. Adjoining the rear of the main range is a large late 20th-century block with casement windows above garages.

The interior is T-shaped with a screen of four Tuscan columns at the junction of the main range and the rear cross-wing. Detailing includes dentilled ceiling cornice, panelled doors, and wide hollow-moulded rere arches to window bays. The lobby inside the front entrance has moulded coving and panelled window shutters. The main range contains two original foliate ceiling roses. A late 20th-century gallery, reached by a straight stair within a rectangular panelled stairwell supported by three pairs of Tuscan columns, has a bowed front overlooking the cross-wing. Between the main range and cross-wing is an original full-height arcade of four Tuscan columns supporting a cornice with triglyph frieze. The cross-wing contains a reading room with canted angles and a Venetian window to the west end. Two blind windows sit on the south wall, with double panelled doors to the east leading to later blocks. The ceiling features a large skylight with painted Anthemion design and four moulded ceiling roses containing metal grilles. The wings are said to contain spiral staircases.