Library
LIBRARY, CASTLE GATES
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1271288
- Date first listed:
- 10-Jan-1953
- List Entry Name:
- Library
- Statutory Address:
- LIBRARY, CASTLE GATES
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-06-24
- Reference:
- IOE01/08309/24
- Rights:
- © Mr Michael Nicolle. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1271288
- Date first listed:
- 10-Jan-1953
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 17-Nov-1995
- List Entry Name:
- Library
- Statutory Address 1:
- LIBRARY, CASTLE GATES
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:
- LIBRARY, CASTLE GATES
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Shropshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Shrewsbury
- National Grid Reference:
- SJ 49365 12799
Details
SHREWSBURY
SJ4912NW CASTLE GATES 653-1/11/153 (West side) 10/01/53 Library (Formerly Listed as: CASTLE GATES (West side) Museum and Library)
GV I
Library, formerly Shrewsbury Grammar School. 2 phases, one dated 1595, the other dated 1630. Coursed and squared rubble, with roof not visible behind parapet. PLAN: main entrance range, with tower at angle, and gabled cross range beyond to right. EXTERIOR: entrance block of 1630, 3 storeys, 5-window range with central shallow segmental archway with fluted Corinthian columns on high bases. 2 male figures stand on the columns, with inscriptions in Greek beneath and between them, and the date. Four 2-light chamfered mullioned windows each side to ground floor, 4-light mullioned and transomed windows over, and on top storey, 2- and 3-light mullioned windows, one cut by carved Royal Arms with lion and unicorn. String courses are Greek motifs, each different. Parapet which sweeps up into fleur-de-lys finials. Decorated window in gable end, lighting principal room within. Massive sundials etched onto stonework on each facade. Tower to the right, 6 unequal stages, with blocked door to ground floor, then mullioned windows of 2 and 3 lights, one to each stage, lighting stair within. Clock in upper stage. Embattled parapet with pinnacles. Earlier gabled range to left dated 1595. Principal room at first-floor level, with wide Decorated-style window. Smaller mullioned and transomed window to lower storey, and date stone with inscription recording David Lloyd and Thomas Lewis. Chamfered segmentally-arched doorway and narrow window in the lowest stage. INTERIOR: cambered trusses. In the earlier block, the main hall has been extensively modified, and the ceiling, with moulded tie beams and traceried decoration, is a C19 alteration.
Listing NGR: SJ4937012803
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 455418
- Legacy System:
- LBS
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 12-Jun-2026 at 19:53:44.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.