List of architectural works by Thomas Shelmerdine

Thomas Shelmerdine (1845–1921) was an English architect and surveyor who spent most of his career as the land steward and surveyor to the Corporation of Liverpool. In this role he was involved with many projects in the city, including slum clearance. public housing and road widening. Shelmerdine also designed public buildings including hospitals, offices, fire stations, a fish market, schools, and libraries. At least five of his branch libraries have survived and are designated as listed buildings by English Heritage. His most highly regarded works are the Hornby Library within Liverpool Central Library, which is listed at Grade II*, and enlarging the council chamber at Liverpool Town Hall. He was also responsible for laying out St John's Gardens. Shelmerdine's designs include a number of architectural styles, including Italian Renaissance, Baroque, and Arts and Crafts.[1]

Key

Grade	Criteria[2]
I	Buildings of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important
II*	Particularly important buildings of more than special interest
II	Buildings of national importance and special interest
U	Not listed

Major extant architectural works

Name	Location	Photograph	Date	Notes	Grade
North Lodge	Speke Hall 53.34180°N 2.86812°W		1867–68	The lodge stands at the entrance to the drive to the hall. It is a stuccoed building painted to resemble timber-framing. It has a T-shaped plan, with a porch in the angle, and is in one storey. The gabled bay on the right has a mullioned and transomed window; the other windows are sashes. The porch is in timber and is gabled.[3][4]	II
Ullet Road entrance	Sefton Park 53.38688°N 2.94766°W		1874	Standing at the main entrance to the park, this consists of a screen flanked by gate piers, all in stone. The base is buttressed with arched recesses. It supports three columns, the central one being slim and in sandstone, the lateral two being broader, and in granite. These carry a slate roof with iron cresting. The four piers are in granite with conical caps, three of them carrying lamps.[5][6]	II
Former police station and fire station	Westminster Road, Kirkdale 53.4356°N 2.9748°W		1885	This consisted of a police station, a fire station and a bridewell. It has a complex plan, and is built in brick with sandstone dressings and slate roofs. The windows are mullioned and transomed. Arising from the roof of the former police station is a tiled spire.[7][8]	II
Public Library	Kensington, Liverpool 53.4116°N 2.9535°W		1890	This was the first branch library in Liverpool, and was extended in 1897. It is an asymmetrical building in red brick with stone dressings and a tiled roof. It has an octagonal timber lantern surmounted by a cupola. The entrance porch has a semicircular pediment and Ionic columns. The wing to the left of the entrance has a large round-headed mullioned and transomed window and a small gable. The right wing has a Venetian window, an arcaded parapet, and a shaped gable.[9][10]	II
Central Fire Station	Hatton Garden, Liverpool 53.4096°N 2.9863°W		1895–98	This is designed in Jacobean style. It is constructed in brick with stone dressings and partial facing, and has a slate roof. The fire station is a symmetrical building with three storeys and an attic. The main front has 18 bays, and a cornice runs along the top of the building. All the windows are mullioned and transomed. Other features include a three-stage tower, oriel windows, pediments, dormers, and a balustraded balcony.[11][12]	II
Everton Library	St Domingo Road, Everton 53.4257°N 2.9706°W		1896	A branch library built in brick and stone, with a tiled roof. It is in two storeys with three gabled bays, and has an octagonal turret in the corner. The windows are mullioned and transomed, and there are four round columns at the entrance.[13][14]	II
College of Further Education	Picton Road, Wavertree 53.3991°N 2.9232°W		1898–99	Originally a technical institute, then a college, and then offices, it is built in red brick with stone dressings and a slate roof. The building has two storeys, and extends for five bays, the first bay being canted with a gable containing a lunette. The entrance is in the second bay. It has a granite Ionic aedicule with rusticated columns, a frieze and a pediment with a tympanum containing a fanlight. The windows are mullioned and transomed.[15][16]	II
Liverpool Town Hall	Water Street, Liverpool 53.4072°N 2.9917°W		1899–1900	Shelmerdine enlarged the Council Chamber to fill the ground floor, creating a recess for the Lord Mayor's dais. A consequence of this was that the north portico had to be rebuilt; this was done, reusing the original columns.[17][18]	I
Toxteth Public Library	Windsor Street, Toxteth 53.3950°N 2.9715°W		1900–02	A branch library constructed in red brick with stone dressings and a slate roof. It is in a single storey with an attic. There are five bays on both Windsor Street and on Upper Parliament Street. On each face are two Venetian windows. The round-headed doorway is flanked by Ionic columns and pilasters, and above it is a projecting hood. In the centre of the roof is a lead cupola.[19][20]	II
Wavertree District Library	Picton Road, Wavertree 53.3993°N 2.9246°W		1902–03	The library was designed in the style of the 17th and 18th centuries. It is built in red brick with stone dressings, and has a slate roof. The library is in a single storey, and has a symmetrical three-bay front. The outer bays project forward with gables, and each contains a three-light window, with a three-light lunette above. The central bay has an entrance flanked by four Ionic columns, with a pediment. Above this is a balustrade, and a recessed shaped gable containing a two-light window with a pediment.[15][21]	II
St John's Gardens	Liverpool 53.4089°N 2.9814°W		1904	Following the demolition of St John's Church, Shelmerdine laid out the gardens in the former churchyard. The retaining wall, the gate piers, and the terrace wall are listed. The piers are rusticated and have entablatures.[22][23]	II
West Derby Library	Green Lane, West Derby 53.4205°N 2.9258°W		1904–05	The library is built in brick with stone dressings and a slate roof, and is in a single storey. The library has four bays on each side, with a canted bay between them. The windows are mullioned and transomed. On one corner is an octagonal turret, with buttresses and an arcaded parapet. At the entrance is an Ionic porch with a frieze and a pediment.[24][25]	II
Picton Baths	Picton Road, Wavertree 53.399219°N 2.924178°W		1904–06	Designed in collaboration with engineer W.R. Courts. Shelmerdine's facade uses 17th century motifs in an arts and crafts style. Compact facade, red brick and sandstone cross-wings with shaped gables amd large unmoulded mullioned-and-transomed windows.[15][26]	II
Hornby Library	William Brown Street, Liverpool 53.4101°N 2.9803°W		1906	The library was paid for by Hugh Frederick Hornby to house the books and prints he had bequeathed. It is in Baroque style, and consists of a five-bay hall with aisles created by an Ionic colonnade. The hall has a plaster barrel vault. Running round it is a balustraded balcony ending in Doric columns. Above this are Diocletian windows.[27][28]	II*
City Hospital North	Longmoor Lane, Fazakerley 53.4676°N 2.9351°W	—	1906	The hospital consisted of an axial complex of single-storey wards, residences, an administrative block, and a nurses' home.[29]	U
Garston Library	Bowden Road, Garston 53.3582°N 2.9060°W		1908	The library shows the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement. It is rendered on a sandstone plinth, apart from some exposed stone in the middle. The library has a slate roof. Its front is symmetrical, with a large central gable containing a window, and half-timbered gablets to the sides.[30]	II
Sefton Park Library	Aigburth Road, Liverpool 53.3786°N 2.9473°W		1911	This was the last of the branch libraries to be designed by Shelmerdine, and is in Tudor Revival style. The ground floor is in stone, partly roughcast, and the upper parts are timber-framed. It has large brick chimneystacks. The library was opened by Andrew Carnegie, and contains a plaque to commemorate this.[31][32]	II

References

Citations

1. "Modernise Everything" — Thomas Shelmerdine, Liverpool Architect (PDF), Newsletter, 29, Liverpool Historical Society, Winter 2010–2011, pp. 2–3, retrieved 7 March 2014
2. Listed Buildings, Historic England, retrieved 27 March 2015
3. Pollard & Pevsner (2006), p. 468
4. Historic England, "North Lodge, Speke Hall (1063324)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
5. Sharples & Pollard (2004), pp. 281–282
6. Historic England, "Entrance to Sefton Park, Liverpool (1218258)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
7. Pollard & Pevsner (2006), p. 435
8. Historic England, "Former Divisional Police HQ, Parade Station, Bridewell and North District Fire Brigade Station, Liverpool (1392283)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
9. Pollard & Pevsner (2006), p. 412
10. Historic England, "Public Library, Kensington, Liverpool (1343641)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
11. Sharples & Pollard (2004), pp. 27, 152
12. Historic England, "Central Fire Station, Liverpool (1075214)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
13. Sharples & Pollard (2004), p. 267
14. Historic England, "Everton Library, Liverpool (1207466)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
15. Pollard & Pevsner (2006), p. 495
16. Historic England, "College of Further Education, Liverpool (1292938)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
17. Sharples & Pollard (2004), pp. 45–46
18. Historic England, "Town Hall, Liverpool (1360219)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
19. Sharples & Pollard (2004), pp. 244–245
20. Historic England, "Toxteth Public Library, Liverpool (1359623)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
21. Historic England, "Wavertree District Library, Liverpool (1072998)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
22. Sharples & Pollard (2004), p. 65
23. Historic England, "Retaining wall, gatepiers, and terrace wall, St John's Gardens, Liverpool (1361684)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
24. Pollard & Pevsner (2006), p. 482
25. Historic England, "West Derby Library, Liverpool (1356361)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
26. Historic England, "Public Baths, Liverpool (1356361)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
27. Sharples & Pollard (2004), pp. 27, 63
28. Historic England, "Picton Reading Room and Hornby Library, Liverpool (1359620)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
29. Pollard & Pevsner (2006), p. 428
30. Historic England, "1405548 (1068324)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013
31. Sharples & Pollard (2004), p. 293
32. Historic England, "Sefton Park Library, including boundary railings and gates, Liverpool (1409848)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 29 September 2013

Sources

• Pollard, Richard; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006), Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10910-5
• Sharples, Joseph; Pollard, Richard (2004), Liverpool, Pevsner Architectural Guides, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10258-5