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Forest street
The old Sutton-in-Ashfield Free library
This public building is situated in Forest Street, in close proximity to the Midland Railway Town Station.
It stands well elevated above the road, and is built of brick and terra cotta, in the Elizabethan style of architecture.
The entrance is 9ft 6ins wide, giving access to a ladies' room 17ft. by 14ft. on the left, and a lending library 26ft. by 17ft. wide on the right
. The dimensions of the reading room are 35ft, long by 25ft 6ins wide. Lavatories and stores are provided. All the rooms are 14ft. high,
and well lighted and ventilated, the heating being done by hot water and open fires. The floors are of wooden blocks.
The building was erected in commemoration of the late Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
in 1897. The site was given by His Grace the Duke of Portland—a generous benefactor to the town—who also headed the subscription list.
It was opened by the Duchess of Portland early in May, 1898. The cost of between £2,000 and £3,000 was defrayed by public subscription.
The Chairman of the Sutton Urban District Council (Mr. J. C. Sampson, J.P.). initiated the scheme, and the joint secretaries were Messrs. C. H. Kitchen and J D. Fidler
. The architect was Mr. J. P. Adlington, of Sutton. The circulating library contains between 1,100 and 1.200 volumes, including works by the following well-known authors:—Charles
Dickens, Sir Walter Scott George Elliott, Charles Kingslcy, Mrs. Wood, W. M. Thackeray, Mrs O. F. Walton. Charles Reade. E B. Browning. Tennyson,
Milton, Shakespeare, Byron, Wordsworth. Longfellow. R. Browning W. II. G. Kingston, Burns Mrs. H. B. Stowe, Longfellow,
Captain Marryat, Shelley. & c. Gifts of very valuable works have been made to the library by Mr. G G. Bonser, of Sutton, and others.
The librarian is Mr C. G. Burton, whose salary is £52 per annum The institution is maintained by a 1d. rate.
The chairman of the Library Committee is elected annually.
The old Sutton-in-Ashfield library which opened in 1899.
Demolished in the 1970's
It is now a Halfords Store
This is one of the chief arteries of the town, and it has witnessed as many changes, in one way or another, as most of its neighbouring veins. It is also known as Station Road. Up to 1879 the road was a portion of the Newark and Newhaven Turnpike Trust, and in 1847 it received the attention of the "nothing-to-do stockingers" in what was known as the "Labour Test," who lowered the road considerably from near Mr. T. Stendall's farmstead to the Sheepwash. One of the three toll-bars in the parish was located near Forest Lodge, whilst there was formerly a public-house in the vicinity of Mr. Stendall's home, it standing by the roadside. Coming nearer to the town, we may state that there was also another inn once upon a time, known as "The Sailor Boy," situated almost opposite Mr. Isaac Wass's farmstead, and a smithy a few doors away, which was used for many years by the late Mr. John Harris. The thoroughfare was also known as Oates' Hill, after the late Mr. Wm. Oates (the then agent to the Unwin Family), whose residence was demolished early in 1893 for the present building, which is now the residence of Dr. Porter. On the erection of the Conservative Club's new premises in 1905, two old thatched cottages were destroyed at the entrance. Forest Street can boast of containing both the Midland Railway Stations, the Public Free Library, the Conservative Club, and King's Theatre, with several other important undertakings on its side
Dr Tweedies house.
Also once the health centre for the U.D.M.