The Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library is a
Grade II* listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
building on
William Brown Street in Liverpool, England, which now forms part of the
Liverpool Central Library
Liverpool Central Library is the largest of the 22 libraries in Liverpool, England, situated in the centre of the city.
History
The library is located in several adjoining historic buildings on William Brown Street. Its first building was the ...
.
The chairman of the
William Brown Library and Museum, Sir
James Picton, laid the foundation stone of the Picton Reading Room in 1875. It was designed by
Cornelius Sherlock, and modelled after the
British Museum Reading Room
The British Museum Reading Room, situated in the centre of the Great Court of the British Museum, used to be the main reading room of the British Library. In 1997, this function moved to the new British Library building at St Pancras, London, ...
, and was the first electrically lit library in the UK. It was completed in 1879 formally opened by the Mayor of Liverpool,
Sir Thomas Bland Royden. The front is semicircular with
Corinthian columns, and the shape was chosen by the architect to cover the change in the axis of the row of buildings at this point. The Hornby Reading Room (named after Hugh Frederick Hornby) by
Thomas Shelmerdine was added in 1906. It stands behind the older building and the interior is decorated in the Edwardian Imperial style.
Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
as a designated Grade II* listed building.
Gallery
Picton Reading Room
File:Bust of James Picton.jpg, Bust of Sir James Picton
File:Picton Reading Room 2017.jpg, View of the ground floor
File:Picton Reading Room from gallery 4.jpg, Seen from the gallery
File:Picton Reading Room dome 1.jpg, Interior of the dome
File:Door to Hornby Library from Picton Library.jpg, Doors to Hornby Library
Hornby Library
File:Hornby Library, Liverpool (6).jpg, Bust of Hugh Frederick Hornby
File:Hornby Library 201803-2.jpg, Library interior
File:Hornby Library, Liverpool (7).jpg, View from first floor gallery
File:Oak Room, Hornby Library 2018-1.jpg, The Oak Room, housing a copy of Audubon's '' The Birds of America''
See also
*
Architecture of Liverpool
*
Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool – City Centre
References
External links
William Brown Library and MuseumImages of England:Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library
Public libraries in Merseyside
Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool
Grade II* listed library buildings
Library buildings completed in 1879
Library buildings completed in 1906
Libraries in Liverpool
1879 establishments in England
Domes in the United Kingdom
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