The Atkinson is a building on the east side of Lord Street extending round the corner into Eastbank Street,

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

, Sefton,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

, England. The building is a combination of two former buildings, the original Atkinson Art Gallery and Library that opened in 1878, and the adjacent Manchester and Liverpool District Bank that was built in 1879. These were combined in 1923–24 and the interiors have been integrated. The original building is in Neoclassical style, and the former bank is in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style. The art gallery and library has been integrated with the Southport Arts Centre and is now known as The Atkinson. The two former buildings are each 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, an ...

as designated Grade II

listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The Atkinson was built following a donation of £6,000 in 1875 by William Atkinson, a cotton manufacturer from

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate. History Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenares ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, and a frequent visitor to Southport. The building was designed by Waddington and Son of

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

and opened in 1878. The total cost, donated by Atkinson, was £15,000. In 1923–24 the building was extended by incorporating an adjacent bank on the corner of Eastbank Street, that had been built for the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank in 1879. The interior of the combined building was remodeled in the late 20th century, and the interiors were internally integrated. As of 2014 the organisation of the library and art gallery is integrated with the Southport Arts Centre and it is known as The Atkinson.

Architecture

Original building

The original building is constructed in

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

with a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof in Neoclassical style. It is in three storeys and has a symmetrical three-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

front. The central bay projects forward and contains a square-headed doorway above which is a roundel and a band of three panels. It is flanked by pairs of engaged

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

columns, above which is an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

with a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

inscribed with "ATKINSON FREE LIBRARY" and a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

. The roundel includes a carving of a female

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places * Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazin ...

representing Thought. The tympanum of the pediment contains carved personifications of Art, Science, Literature, Inspiration, and Commerce. The outer bays each incorporate a foundation stone in the

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In c ...

, a three-light window in an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

in the lower floor, and carved panels in the upper floor. The panels are carved with allegories including Painting, Drama and Science. All the carvings were executed by G. W. Seale.

Former bank

The former bank is built in sandstone

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

with a slate roof in

style. It has three storeys and an attic, each floor diminishing upwards in size. There are three bays on the Lord Street front and seven bays on Eastbank Street. In the ground floor, separating and flanking the bays, are channelled

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s with

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of crockets to a bishop's crosier. Description ...

ed caps, a

and a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. Above these, on both floors are pairs of colonnettes with foliated caps, a frieze and a cornice. Along the top of the building is a

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

, and a pedimented attic window in the central bay of each side. In the left bay of the Lord Street face and in the central bay of the Eastbank Street face is a round-headed doorway with a moulded head, a keystone and carved

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

s. The other bays on Lord Street and the first three bays on Eastbank Street contain tall pilastered two-light windows; the last three bays on Eastbank Street have inserted shop fronts. In the middle floor each bay contains two round-headed two-light windows with moulded heads and keystones and are flanked by pilasters. The top floor has two segmental-headed two-light windows with moulded architraves in each bay. Internally the former banking hall has retained its plastered

coffer A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also c ...

ed ceiling and a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

fireplace.

Present day

The ground floor of the former bank is used as a public library. In the floors above are a museum and an exhibition space. These house collections of

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

, decorative art, historical items, and exhibitions of items relating to

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

. The arts centre forms part of the complex known as The Atkinson.

Appraisal

Both of the buildings are recorded in the

as designated Grade II

. The original Atkinson Art Gallery and Library building was designated on 15 November 1972, and the former bank was designated on 29 July 1999. Grade II is the lowest of the three grades of listing and is applied to buildings that are "nationally important and of special interest". The Atkinson Art Gallery and Library forms a group with other Grade II listed buildings nearby, Southport Town Hall and the Southport Arts Centre.

Gallery

File:John Collier - In the Venusberg Tannhauser - c 1901.jpg, ''In the Venusberg Tannhauser'' (c. 1901) John Collier

References

External links

Paintings in the Gallery collectionThe Atkinson exhibitionsThe Atkinson
{{Authority control Grade II listed buildings in Merseyside Buildings and structures in Southport Museums in Merseyside Art museums and galleries in Merseyside