The Lyceum, Liverpool
| The Lyceum | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Neo-classical |
| Town or city | Liverpool |
| Country | England |
| Construction started | 1800 |
| Completed | 1802 |
| Cost | £11,000 (1803) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Thomas Harrison |
| Engineer | William Slater |
The Lyceum is a Neoclassical Grade II* listed building located on Bold Street, Liverpool, England. It was constructed in 1802 as a news-room and England's first subscription library (1758-1942) and later became a gentleman's club.
After the club relocated in 1952 the building was left unoccupied for many years, eventually falling into a state of disrepair. Calls were made for its demolition in the late 1970s, however a campaign against demolition was successful and it later reopened as a post office. Currently most of the building lies vacant with only part of the building serving as a branch of The Co-operative Bank.
In 1757 members of a small literary club met in the house of William Everard, a schoolmaster to discuss reviews, periodicals and later books which were allowed to circulate among members. A year later on 1 May 1758 The Liverpool Library was established and the books which were originally stored in a large chest in Everard's parlor were moved to a number of different premises around the city centre as the collection increased. A proposal was put forward on 12 May 1800 to club members for the construction of a purpose built library in order to house their overflowing collection which had outgrown its current home on Lord Street.
A design was accepted from architect Thomas Harrison of Chester which showed the building facing Church Street, this was later modified to fit local circumstances. Each of the library's 892 subscribers contributed 12 guineas (£12.60) each towards its construction. A 50-year lease on the land was purchased and construction work began in 1800 under the guide of William Slater. Completed two years later at a cost of £11,000 the deed was then signed. Signatories included John Lightbody, John Currie, Rev’d John Yates and most notably abolitionist William Roscoe. The Lyceum opened on the 17th December 1802 with both the newsroom and library acting as separate institutions offering shares priced at 12 guineas for the newsroom and 5 Guineas for the library. Selling of these shares raised £2089 10s. The newsroom contained a coffee room and reading room were members had access to provisional London and Irish newspapers, magazines, reviews and maps. Members were charged 10s 6d annually while proprietors paid 1 Guinea and could admit a stranger for two months. Adjacent the library was housed in a circular room which was estimated in 1807 to contain upwards of 10,000 volumes. Other rooms in the building were used for giving lectures and as meeting rooms for committee members.
...
Wikipedia