Fenton Carnegie Library

Last updated

Fenton Carnegie Library is an Edwardian building in Fenton, Staffordshire, England. It was built in 1906 with money from Andrew Carnegie, who had a programme for funding library construction in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The library was closed in 2012, one of the large number of English libraries that closed around that time as a result of cuts in local government expenditure. [1] [2] In 2018/2019 the building was used for temporary exhibitions. [3]

Contents

Design

Fenton Carnegie Library Fenton - Library - Baker Street frontage - geograph.org.uk - 3246414.jpg
Fenton Carnegie Library

The library is built of red brick with stone dressings. Unlike many Carnegie libraries, it is not a listed building. However, its design includes distinctive features such as a mosaic floor and an oriel window. A feature which is standard in Carnegie libraries is the raised entrance: the steps symbolise the reader's spiritual elevation. At Fenton the entrance is framed by Ionic columns, a borrowing from classical architecture which is found at other Carnegie libraries such as Rawtenstall Library.

Rawtenstall Library, photographed at its opening in 1907, presents some similarities to Fenton Library Opening of Rawtenstall Library, 1 June 1907.jpg
Rawtenstall Library, photographed at its opening in 1907, presents some similarities to Fenton Library

History

The site was a gift from William Meath Baker, a local philanthropist, and a grant of £5,300 from Andrew Carnegie funded the building itself. [2]

In 1906, when the library opened, Fenton was administered as a separate town, although it was part of a conurbation. However, in 1910 Fenton joined with five other towns to form Stoke-on-Trent. The other towns had libraries before Fenton, [2] and Fenton Carnegie Library remained the only Carnegie library in Stoke-on-Trent.

Following the closure of the library in 2012, the building was advertised as being available to let. However, local opinion is reportedly in favour of continued use by the community. It has been used for exhibitions on local history, [3] and there has even been discussion of finding funding to re-establish a library service. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-upon-Trent</span> Human settlement in England

Stoke-upon-Trent, also called Stoke, is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-on-Trent</span> City and unitary authority in England

Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). In 2021, the city had an estimated population of 258,400. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Alsager, Kidsgrove and Biddulph, which form a conurbation around the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newcastle-under-Lyme</span> Market town in Staffordshire, England

Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. In 2021 the population was 75,082.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie library</span> Libraries donated by Andrew Carnegie

A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems. 1,689 were built in the United States, 660 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 125 in Canada, and 25 others in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Serbia, Belgium, France, the Caribbean, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Fiji.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staffordshire University</span> University in Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom

Staffordshire University is a public research university in Staffordshire, England. It has one main campus based in the city of Stoke-on-Trent and four other campuses; in Stafford, Lichfield, Shrewsbury and London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burslem</span> Human settlement in England

Burslem is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trentham Estate</span>

The Trentham Estate, in the village of Trentham, is a visitor attraction located on the southern fringe of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-on-Trent South (UK Parliament constituency)</span>

Stoke-on-Trent South is a constituency created in 1950, and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Jack Brereton, a Conservative. The local electorate returned a Labour MP in every election until 2017, when Brereton became its first Conservative MP. The seat is non-rural and in the upper valley of the Trent covering half of the main city of the Potteries, a major ceramics centre since the 17th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockport railway station</span> Principal railway station in Greater Manchester, England

Stockport railway station serves the large town of Stockport in Greater Manchester, England. It is located 6 miles south-east of Manchester Piccadilly, on a spur of the West Coast Main Line to London Euston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-on-Trent railway station</span> Railway station in Staffordshire, England

Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Stoke-on-Trent, on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line. It also provides an interchange between local services running through Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longton, Staffordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Longton is one of the six towns which amalgamated to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Burslem and Stoke-upon-Trent. It is in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burslem School of Art</span> Former art school in Burslem, England

Burslem School of Art was an art school in the centre of the town of Burslem in the Potteries district of England. Students from the school played an important role in the local pottery industry. Pottery was made on the site of the school from the early Middle Ages. The venue was refurbished and re-opened for the arts in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-on-Trent City Council</span>

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is the local authority of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. As a unitary authority, it has the combined powers of a county council and district council and is administratively separate from the rest of Staffordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedgwood Institute</span> Building in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK

The Wedgwood Institute is a large red-brick building that stands in Queen Street, in the town of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It is sometimes called the Wedgwood Memorial Institute, but it is not to be confused with the former Wedgwood Memorial College in Barlaston. It achieved listed building status in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnegie Library, Runcorn</span> Historic site

The Carnegie Library is in Egerton Street, Runcorn, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building and "possesses special architectural and historic interest within a national context". It was built in 1906 as an extension to Waterloo House and the existing library with a grant from Andrew Carnegie, and closed in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Town Hall, Burslem</span> Municipal building in Burslem, Staffordshire, England

The Old Town Hall is a former town hall in Burslem, in Staffordshire, England. It is in the Market Place, in the centre of the town. It is a Grade II* listed building, listed on 2 October 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilkley Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England

Ilkley Town Hall, on Station Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, is a Grade II listed municipal building designed by William Bakewell of Leeds. It forms the centre of a small complex of public buildings, which also includes Ilkley Library, and the King's Hall & Winter Garden theatre. The library, Town Hall and King's Hall opened in 1908 opposite Ilkley railway station; the Winter Garden was added to the west in 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fenton Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Fenton, Staffordshire, England

Fenton Town Hall is a municipal building in Albert Square in Fenton, Staffordshire, England. It is now occupied by local businesses, a café and an art gallery.

The Orillia Public Library is a single-branch public library in Orillia, Ontario, Canada.

References

  1. ↑ "Libraries lose a quarter of staff as hundreds close". BBC. March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Gratton, Adam (March 2019). "Then and now: remembering Fenton Library" . Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 Edwards, Mervyn (August 2019). "Library is a focus for all generations of Fentonians".

52°59′54″N2°09′46″W / 52.9984°N 2.1628°W / 52.9984; -2.1628

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.