Description

MANCHESTER

SJ8498SW MOSLEY STREET
698-1/28/240 (East side)
25/02/52 No.57
The Portico Library and The Bank PH
(Formerly Listed as:
MOSLEY STREET
(East side)
No.57
Portico Library and Lloyds Bank)

GV II*

Subscription library, subsequently bank and library, now
public house and library. 1802-6, by Thomas Harrison of
Chester; altered. Sandstone ashlar (roof not visible).
Rectangular plan on corner site at junction with Charlotte
Street. Classical style. Two storeys with basement and attic,
presenting a slightly projected 3-bay pedimented loggia with 4
giant Ionic columns; with a plinth (steps between the
columns), 1st floor string-course carried round, moulded
architrave, plain frieze and dentilled cornice also carried
round; 2 doorways and 3 square 1st-floor windows under the
loggia. Inserted in the front wall is a VR post box.The
right-hand return wall to Charlotte Street has a doorway into
the side of the loggia, a square window above this and another
at 1st floor, then breaks forward as a 5-bay colonnade of
giant Ionic semi-columns, each bay containing a tall sashed
window at ground floor, with pediments and cornices in
alternate bays, a square window at 1st floor, and an attic
storey expressed as a pilastered parapet; and terminates with
one bay beyond. Interior: formerly galleried, with reading
room at ground floor level and library on gallery, but ceiling
inserted at gallery level c.1920 and ground floor remodelled
recently, leaving only the columns of the gallery exposed; 1st
floor not inspected, but reported to have saucer dome.
History: founded as social, literary and philosophic society,
the first honorary secretary being P.M.Roget (author of the
Thesaurus); until Public Libraries Act of 1856 was chief
circulating library in Manchester; mentioned by Thomas De
Quincey in his "Confessions of an Opium Eater".

Listing NGR: SJ8414398139

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• The Portico Library at Wikipedia
• The Portico Library official website
• Wikidata Q7231808

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)