Adult Education Centre and Library

Details

This List Entry was subjected to a Minor Amendment on 15/12/2016

NEWTON ABBOT

SX8571SE BANK STREET
1012-1/13/171 (East side)
22/03/83 Adult Education Centre and Library

GV II

Formerly known as: Passmore Edwards Public Library, Science,
Art and Technical School TEIGNBRIDGE.
Includes: Adult Education Centre and Library MARKET STREET.
Library and Science, Art and Technical School, now Adult
Education Centre and Library. 1901-1904. By Silvanus Trevail,
a Cornish architect.
MATERIALS: squared Devon limestone rubble with yellow ceramic
dressings to Bank Street and Market Street facades, cream
English-bond brick to rear and left return, crested slate
roofs with moulded stacks to ends and rear, and some
incorporated into the pilasters on the facade.
PLAN: L-plan on corner site with a canted corner bay.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys; 16-window range with 10 windows to the
left and 5 to the right of the main entrance in a canted
corner bay. Ground, first and second-floor cornices, the lower
ones and a plinth are continuous. The upper floors are
articulated by panelled pilasters with finials corbelled out
above the lower cornice. Semi-elliptical heads to the panes of
mullioned and transomed windows, mostly cross-windows. The
second floor is elaborate with a variety of cross windows,
triangular and curved pediments, Gibbs surrounds, swags and
finials. The majority of first-floor windows are paired or
triple cross windows below an ornamental frieze and cornice,
ceramic panels with the name of the building forming aprons.
Similar windows to the ground floor; to the inside-left is a
pedimented doorcase over a segmental arch and panelled double
doors.
The main corner entrance has a semicircular-arched window with
timber mullions and transom to the second floor set in a Gibbs
surround under a pediment with highly ornamented carving with
figures representing Art and Learning. A 3-light first-floor
window is over a semicircular fanlight with radial glazing
bars and double panelled doors flanked by paired pilasters
with blocking extending to form a Gibbs surround to the
doorcase.
INTERIOR: mosaic hall floor, some panelled oak doors,
panelling below a Jacobean-style open-well closed-string
staircase with moulded square balusters and newels with
pendants, ornamental leaded stair window and half-glazed
double inner doors with a large semicircular fanlight remain.

HISTORY: the building was a gift to Newton Abbot from Passmore
Edwards, a noted public benefactor, in memory of his mother.
The site known as Harvey's Corner had been acquired by the
County for road improvements. The cost of building the free
library was »2,290. The gift of »2,500 possibly included
fixtures, fittings and books. Public subscriptions and a grant
from the County Council paid for the Technical School.
A typical but flamboyant example of the style adopted by
Trevail for the Passmore Edwards libraries. One of this
distinguished Cornish architect's last commissions and
completed after his death in 1903 by his assistant Alfred
Cornelius. Only the clock turret was omitted from Trevail's
original design.
(BoE: Pevsner N & Cherry B: Devon: London: 1989-: 591; Jones
R: A Book of Newton Abbot: Callington: 1979-: 131; Eddy K: The
Beginnings of the Public Library Service in Newton Abbot:
1970-).


Listing NGR: SX8577371317

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

464098

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Jones, R, A Book of Newton Abbot, (1979), 131
Eddy, K, The Beginnings of the Public Library Service in Newton Abbot, (1970)
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Devon, (1989), 591

End of official list entry

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