The Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library are two

grade II* listed building 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 Ir ...

s on

William Brown Street William Brown Street in Liverpool, England, is a road that is remarkable for its concentration of public buildings. It is sometimes referred to as the "Cultural Quarter". Originally known as ''Shaw's Brow'', a coaching road east from the city ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, which now form 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 The William Brown Library and Museum is a Grade II* listed building situated on the historic William Brown Street in Liverpool, England. The building currently houses part of the World Museum Liverpool and Liverpool Central Library. The Wil ...

, 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.Pevsner, N. (1969) ''Lancashire; 1: the industrial and commercial south''. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books; p. 159

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 ''The Birds of America'' is a book by naturalist and painter John James Audubon, containing illustrations of a wide variety of birds of the United States. It was first published as a series in sections between 1827 and 1838, in Edinburgh an ...

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 {{Merseyside-struct-stub

Gallery

Picton Reading Room

Hornby Library

See also

References

External links