Stockport Central Library

It was built in 1913–15 to designs by Bradshaw, Gass and Hope in the Edwardian Baroque style and as of 2023 continues to serve as Stockport's largest library.

The north south axis of the town had changed in 1826 with the opening of the new bridge and turnpike, the straight wide Wellington Roads.

Stockport Central Library was built in 1913 with the assistance of Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), an industrialist turned philanthropist.

He worked in a cotton mill as a pirner (U.S. Bobbin boy) then as an engine tenter, a telegraph messenger and operator.

This was over budget, and Carnegie increased his offer to £15,000 on condition that the Corporation provided a further £2,000 to build a branch library in another part of the town.

The library is of red brick and Portland stone, in the Edwardian Baroque style complete with prominent corner dome with a tall finial.

[5][1] The ground floor library has arcades and a glazed dome supported by Ionic columns, with stained glass windows with the names of writers.