The William Brown Library and Museum is a

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 Irel ...

situated on the historic

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 and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England. The building currently houses part of the

World Museum Liverpool World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

and

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 William Brown Library and Museum building was conceived as a replacement for the Derby Museum (containing the

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end ...

's natural history collection) which then shared two rooms on the city's ''Duke Street'' with a library. The land for the building on what was then called ''Shaw's Brow'' as well as much of the funding was provided by local MP and merchant

Sir William Brown, 1st Baronet of Astrop Sir William Brown, 1st Baronet Deputy Lieutenant, DL (30 May 1784 – 3 March 1864) was a British merchant and banker, founder of the banking-house of Brown, Shipley & Co. and a Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who sat in the House of Comm ...

, in whose honour the street was renamed. Following on from the then-recently completed St. George's Hall across the street, the new building was designed by

Thomas Allom Thomas Allom (13 March 1804 – 21 October 1872) was an English architect, artist, and topographical illustrator. He was a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He designed many buildings in London, in ...

in a classical style including

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

and was modified by the

Liverpool Corporation Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor J ...

architect John Weightman. The new building opened its doors in 1860 with 400,000 people attending the opening ceremony. With Liverpool being one of the country's key ports, much of the city was badly damaged by German bombing during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and William Brown Library and Museum were no exception. Hit by firebombs during the

blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

in 1941, the building was ravaged by fire and much of the building had to be rebuilt. Key parts of the museum's collection had been previously moved to less vulnerable locations and damage to those avoided. Plans have now been brought forward to redevelop the library, replacing the post–World War II additions with state-of-the-art facilities.

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History

Images of England:William Brown Library and Museum
{{Authority control Infrastructure completed in 1860 Museums established in 1860 Museums in Liverpool Libraries in Merseyside Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool Grade II* listed library buildings Grade II* listed museum buildings Brown, William, Library and Museum 1860 establishments in England Neoclassical architecture in Liverpool

See also

References

External links