Touchstones Rochdale
Art and heritage centre in Greater Manchester, England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Touchstones Rochdale is an art gallery, museum, local studies centre, visitor information centre and café forming part of the Central Library, Museum and Art Gallery in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England.[1] It is a Grade II listed building.[2]
1903 (museum)
1913 (art gallery)
| Touchstones Rochdale | |
|---|---|
Touchstones Rochdale seen from Broadfield Park | |
  Location within Greater Manchester | |
General information | |
| Location | The Esplanade, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England |
| Coordinates | 53.6152°N 2.1620°W |
| Years built | 1883 (library) 1903 (museum) 1913 (art gallery) |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Yorkshire stone, slate |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | Rochdale Central Library, Museum and Art Gallery |
| Designated | 12 February 1985 |
| Reference no. | 1367096 |
The first part of the stone building was opened as a library in 1884 with the museum and gallery being added in 1903 and extended in 1913. It became an art and heritage centre in 2003. It houses collections relating to local history and related topics, with changing exhibitions over time.
History
The library was built first, opening in 1884,[3] after a fire at Rochdale Town Hall destroyed the "Clock Tower Library" in 1883.[4] The art gallery and museum were built and linked to the library in 1903, and an extension added in 1913. The building was converted into an art and heritage centre in 2003.[2][5]
Collections
The museum has collections relating to: social history, costume and textiles, archaeology, Egyptology, geology, natural history and decorative arts. It also hosts changing exhibitions.[6][7]
The collection includes a painting by Katherine Ashton Simpson (1858–1951),[8] of her sister, the writer, composer and artist Florence Eva Simpson, known as Elva Lorence (1865–1923).[9]
Architecture
It is in Yorkshire stone and has a slate roof. The library has one storey, a front of three gables with ball finials, a central porch with an arcaded parapet, an elliptical-headed doorway, and mullioned and transomed windows with elliptical heads and hood moulds. The museum and art gallery have two storeys, a four-bay central block, a three-bay gabled block to the right, and a diagonally-set gabled block to the left. On the gables are panels of carved figures.[5][2]
