Chadwick Free Library, Park Green, Macclesfield

GIFT OF A FREE LIBRARY TO MACCLESFIELD – There was much rejoicing in Macclesfield on Saturday, the occasion being the formal opening and handing over to the town of a public free library, which has been built and stocked with 10,000 volumes of books by Mr David Chadwick, one of the members for the borough. The site of the library is at the foot of Park Lane, with a frontage to Park Green, secured at a cost of £800. The designs selected were those of Mr James Stevens, architect, Macclesfield and Manchester; Messrs Neild and Company of this city being the contractors for the whole of the works. The total cost, including the land, is £5,140. The external appearance of the structure is very ornate. The style of architecture has been described as “Domestic Gothic.”. Entrance to the building is gained at the angles of a projecting octagonal porch. The interior is fitted with all the appliances of a well-appointed institution of this character. There is a spacious reading room, measuring 46 feet by 30 feet, the height from the floor to the glazed lantern in the centre of the roof by which the room is partially lighted being 34 feet. The library, which is effectively shut off from the reading room, is 46 feet long by 28 feet in breadth. [Manchester Guardian 29 May 1876 page 6].

The Library closed in 1994 and the building was subsequently used as the Registrar's offices.

Reference    Builder 26 May 1876 Page 274
Reference    Builder June Page 228 - Opening
Reference    Manchester Guardian 29 May 1876 page 6
Reference    Cheshire Observer 3 June 1876 page 7
Reference    Pevsner: Cheshire