Tyldesley Library campaigners celebrate as building saved by listing

Campaigners who feared a much-loved Edwardian library would be bulldozed are celebrating after the building was granted Grade II listed status.

Tyldesley Library on Stanley Street opened in 1909 but its future has been uncertain since services were moved.

Friends of Tyldesley Library's director James Fish said it was "fantastic" to see a building "with such a rich history now be protected".

Library services will now return to the site once a £1.5m revamp is completed.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Historic England had noted the building's architectural and historic interest when it made an assessment in March.

Recommending it for listing, the heritage body said the library was "relatively little altered".

It said replacement windows had replicated "the original glazing pattern", its "original clay roof tiles" had been retained and there had only been limited use of "new partitions".

It said "well-preserved library interiors" from before World War Two were "now rare and this pre-First World War example retains most of its original features".

"These include a handsome handcrafted bronze dedication plaque in the lobby, good-quality terrazzo staircase with balustrade, leaded-glazed timber screens in the reading room and decorative skylight and windows lighting the lecture hall," it added.

The library was originally opened on 18 December 1909 which replaced the Temperance and Education Hall built on the site in 1851.

Mr Fish, who also represents Tyldesley and Mosley Common on Wigan Council, said he was "delighted".

"I would like to thank the Friends of Tyldesley Library for all their much-valued support over the last 12 months," he said.

He also paid tribute to the "simply amazing and beautiful" Gillian Davies, the driving force in the group who died in February.

"I'm sure Gillian will be absolutely delighted with the fantastic news that Tyldesley Library is now a listed building.

"This now means [it] will forever remain at Stanley Street and protect the building for many generations to come."

In September 2022, it was announced that the library's services, which had been temporarily moved to Tyldesley Town Hall, would return to the site, once a £1.5m refurbishment project was completed.

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