The Keld Literary Institute is a historic building in Keld, North Yorkshire, a village in England.
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James Wilkinson became the minister at Keld Congregational Church in 1838. In 1854, he founded a Mutual Improvement Society, and in 1861 arranged for the construction of a building for its meetings. The chapel had just been rebuilt, and Wilkinson saved money by reusing the old chapel roof on the new building. It became the Literary Institute, with a library and reading table, and opened in 1862. [1] The building was grade II listed in 1986. [2] In 2011, the Keld Resource Centre converted the ground floor stable and carriage room into the Countryside and Heritage Centre, a local museum. [3] The upper floor, which was derelict for some years, was in 2017 converted into an events and conference space. [4]
The building is constructed of stone, with rusticated quoins, and a hipped stone slate roof. There are two storeys, and fronts of two and five bays. The entry is on the left side, and steps lead up to a gabled porch and a round-arched doorway with a quoined surround. This in flanked by narrow round-arched windows with keystones. At the rear is a window with three stepped round-arched heads and keystones, and elsewhere there are sash windows. [2] [5]
