Public Library, Museum and Forecourt Wall and Railings Facing Ramsden Square
PUBLIC LIBRARY, MUSEUM AND FORECOURT WALL AND RAILINGS FACING RAMSDEN SQUARE, DUKE STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1197858
- Date first listed:
- 06-May-1976
- List Entry Name:
- Public Library, Museum and Forecourt Wall and Railings Facing Ramsden Square
- Statutory Address:
- PUBLIC LIBRARY, MUSEUM AND FORECOURT WALL AND RAILINGS FACING RAMSDEN SQUARE, DUKE STREET
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-05-01
- Reference:
- IOE01/02860/30
- Rights:
- © Mr CJ Wright. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1197858
- Date first listed:
- 06-May-1976
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 20-Dec-1993
- List Entry Name:
- Public Library, Museum and Forecourt Wall and Railings Facing Ramsden Square
- Statutory Address 1:
- PUBLIC LIBRARY, MUSEUM AND FORECOURT WALL AND RAILINGS FACING RAMSDEN SQUARE, DUKE STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- PUBLIC LIBRARY, MUSEUM AND FORECOURT WALL AND RAILINGS FACING RAMSDEN SQUARE, DUKE STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Westmorland and Furness (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SD 19600 69439
Details
BARROW IN FURNESS
SD1969SE DUKE STREET 708-1/12/63 (North East side) 06/05/76 Public Library, Museum and forecourt wall and railings facing Ramsden Square (Formerly Listed as: DUKE STREET (North East side) Public Library and Museum in Ramsden Square)
GV II
Public library and attached forecourt wall with railings. 1915-22. By JA Charles. Ashlar sandstone facade, graduated slate and glazed roofs. 2 storeys, 4:3:4 bays in an open V-plan; centre with projecting portico. Symmetrical, in Beaux-Arts Classical style. Plinth; channel-rustication to ends and centre; altered fenestration. Central portico has giant Ionic columns in central recess; double door with bayleaf hoodmould beneath plaque with guttae and date 'ANNO DNI MCMXV'; margin-glazed stair window above has shouldered surround with bayleaf-fasces pendants. Frieze inscribed 'PUBLIC LIBRARY'; modillioned cornice with Greek key ornament. Solid parapet with panels and tasselled roundels. Blocking course with shallow triangular head flanked by gadrooned vases with Greek-key rims and eternal flames. Each rusticated bay has tall window beneath square window, raised surrounds with plain lintel panels. Bays 2-4 and 8-10 are slightly recessed and have ground floor windows in raised panels and rectangular windows in the parapet. Modillioned cornice continues from portico beneath parapet with tasselled roundels over the rusticated bays. Wings have hipped mansard roofs, the ridge sections glazed. INTERIOR: black and white mosaic floor to the entrance hall; curved staircase with cast-iron panels, oak handrail and bollard newels. In each wing the ground-floor ceilings have cross-beams on pilasters; Greek key and bayleaf motifs. Centre-block ceiling is lower and has guilloche on the beams. 1st floor: lecture room (now museum) and reading room have similar motifs together with cartouches and urns; arched ceilings with bayleaf ribs. Forecourt wall: gate piers opposite main entrance have iron gates and incomplete lamp standards; dwarf walls with intermediate piers linked by cross-braced railing panels in groups of 3. Opened 1922 after a lapse in building during the Great War. Lecture room converted to museum c1930. Original fenestration shown in early photograph (Trescatheric). (Trescatheric B: Barrow in Furness in Old Picture Postcards: Netherlands: 1982-: PL 77).
Listing NGR: SD1960069439
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 388462
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Trescatheric, B, Barrow in Furness in Old Picture Postcards, (1982), 77
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 06-Jun-2026 at 15:33:54.
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