Gorton Free Library Gorton Lane / Belle Vue Street Gorton

MANCHESTER PUBLIC LIBRARIES - The Public Free Libraries Committee have selected a plot of land at the junction of Clowes Street, Gorton Lane, and Belle Vue Street as a site for a branch library for Gorton, and the building will shortly be proceeded with from the designs of Messrs J W and R F Beaumont, chosen from eight sets of plans submitted in public competition. Messrs Beaumont are also the architects of the Openshaw Library. [Manchester Guardian 22 October 1892 page 4]

GORTON FREE LIBRARY - A free public library for the Gorton district, established by the Manchester Corporation, was opened on Saturday afternoon by Dr A W Ward, Principal of Owens College. The library is a handsome structure built on a triangular plot of land at the junction of Gorton Lane and Belle Vue Street. The shape of the site suggested, for a portion of the building, an octagonal plan, and this has been adopted. The portion at the junction of the two streets is an octagon measuring 29 feet 6 inches in diameter, communicating by wide arched openings with two wings each 21 feet wide, facing the two streets, the part between them forming an open area for light. The ground floor is kept up six feet above the street level in order to give good light to the basement floor, in which is a boys' reading room, book store and the heating apparatus. The entrance to the building is in Belle Vue Street. A wide staircase leads up to the first floor and down to the basement, the staircase hall having an octagonal end with large windows well from the area. To the left of the entrance on the ground floor is the library, which, with the rooms for the attendants occupies the whole of the floor. The library is fitted with bookcases, ample borrowing counter, catalogue desk, etc, all constructed of pitch-pine, stained and varnished. It is well lighted with large windows on all sides. The first floor is entirely occupied by the reading room and is fitted up with newspaper racks, reading tables and small bookcases for reference books. It is a lofty room, ceiled half way up the roof and lighted by windows on all sides, by skylights over the wings and by a lantern light over the octagon. Special attention has been given to the artificial lighting and the ventilating of the building throughout. The warming of the building is carried out by hot water in pipes and radiators, and this and the ventilating arrangements have been done by Mr E Hatton of Sackville-street. The elevations are faced with grey bricks, with red terra cotta in windows, doors cornice and string courses. A feature has been made of the octagonal corner, which is covered by a hipped roof crowned by a square clock turret. The total height from street level to the top of the iron vane is about 81 feet. The clock, which has four illuminated dials, has been supplied by Messrs J & T Foster and is a prominent feature in the neighbourhood. The cost of the building and fittings has been about £4100. The whole of the work has been carried out by Mr Thorpe, contractor, of Cornbrook, from the designs and under the superintendence of Messrs J W & R F Beaumont, architects, Manchester. [Manchester Guardian 7 May 1894 page 8]

 OPENING OF GORTON FREE LIBRARY - Dr A W Ward, Principal of Owens College, on Saturday afternoon opened the new Gorton Free Library which has been established by the Manchester  Corporation on a triangular plot of land at the junction of Gorton Lane and Belle Vue-street. The shape of the site suggested, for a portion of the building, an octagonal plan, and this has been adopted. The portion at the junction of the two streets is an octagon measuring 29 feet 6 inches in diameter, communicating by wide arched openings with two wings each 21 feet wide, facing the two streets, the part between them forming an open area for light. The ground floor is kept up 6 feet above the street level in order to give good light to the basement floor, in which is a boys' reading room, book store and the heating apparatus. The entrance to the building is in Belle Vue-street and a wide staircase leads up to the first floor and down to the basement. To the left of the entrance on the ground floor is the library, which, with the rooms for the attendants occupies the whole of the floor. The library is fitted with bookcases, ample borrowing counter and catalogue desk and is well lighted with large windows on all sides. The first floor is entirely occupied by the reading room and is fitted up with newspaper racks, reading tables and a bookcase for reference books. It is a lofty room, and is lighted by windows on all sides. Special attention has been given to the artificial lighting and the ventilating of the building throughout. The warming of the building is carried out by hot water in pipes and radiators, and this and the ventilating arrangements have been done by Mr E Hatton of Sackville-street. The elevations are faced with grey bricks, with red terra cotta in windows, doors cornice and string courses. The building is crowned by a square clock turret, the total height from street level to the top of the iron vane being about 81 feet. The clock, which has four illuminated dials, each 4 feet 6 inches in diameter has been supplied by Messrs J & T Foster and is a prominent feature in the neighbourhood. The cost of the building and fittings has been about £4100 and the whole of the work has been carried out by Mr Thorpe, contractor, Cornbrook, from the designs and under the superintendence of Messrs J W & R F Beaumont, architects, Manchester. .... Report continues with opening speeches etc. [Manchester City News 12 May 1894 Page 3]

The new free library erected at Gorton, Manchester, from designs by Messrs J W & R F Beaumont was opened the other day by Dr A Ward, Principal of Owens College. The cost of the building was £4100. Mr Thorpe of Cornbrook was the contractor, [British Architect 18 May 1894 Page 356].

FREE LIBRARY, GORTON - A free public library for the Gorton district, established by the Manchester Corporation, was opened on the 5th inst. by Dr. A. W. Ward, Principal of Owen's College. The library is built on a triangular plot of ground situated at the junction of Gorton-lane and Belle Vue-street. The portion at the junction of the two streets is an octagon measuring 29 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and communicating by wide arched openings with two wings, each 21 ft. wide, facing the two streets, the portion between them forming an open area for light. The ground floor is 6 ft. above the street level, in order to give good light to the basement floor, in which is a boys' reading-room, book store, and healing apparatus. The entrance to the building is in Belle Vue-street. A staircase leads up to the first floor and down to the basement, the staircase hall having an octagonal end with large windows lighted from the area. To the left of the entrance on the ground floor is the library, which, with the rooms for the attendants, occupies the whole of the floor. The library is fitted with bookcases, &c., all constructed of pitch-pine, stained and varnished. It is lighted with windows on all sides. The first floor is entirely occupied by the reading-room. The warming of the building is carried out with hot-water in pipes and radiators, and this and the ventilating arrangements have been done by Mr. E. Hatton, of Manchester. The elevations are faced with grey bricks, with red terra-cotta in windows, door, cornice, and string-courses. A feature has been made of the octagonal corner, which is covered by a hipped roof crowned by a square clock turret. The total height from the street level to the top of the iron vane is about 81 ft. The clock, which has four illuminated dials, has been supplied by Messrs. J. & T. Foster. The cost of the building and fittings has been about £4.100. The whole of the work has been carried out by Mr. Thorpe, contractor, of Cornbrook, from the designs and under the superintendence of Messrs. J. W. & R. F. Beaumont, architects, Manchester. [Builder 19 May 1894 page 393]

Reference    Manchester City News 3 September 1892 Page 8 (Tenders)
Reference    Manchester Guardian 9 November 1892 page 5
Reference    Manchester Guardian 22 October 1892 page 4 – Libraries Committee report
Reference    Manchester Guardian 7 May 1894 page 8
Reference    Manchester City News 12 May 1894 Page 3 Column 6
Reference    British Architect 18 May 1894 Page 356
Reference    Builder 19 May 1894 page 393