Castle Douglas Library

Today's the day ........................ to design

This distinctive red sandstone building with its copper-domed round tower, is the Castle Douglas Public Library.

The library was designed by the architect, Sir George Washington Browne (1853-1939) and built with a donation of about £2,000 from the Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Work on the site began in 1902 but was hampered by bad weather.  The building was officially opened on October 11th, 1904.

The local newspaper, The Kirkcudbrightshire Advertiser, recorded the opening ceremony in great detail.  From this account we learn that 'the interior walls were clad to window height in pine, that the building was lit by inverted Argand burners, that the walls were coloured terracotta and the ceiling pale blue.  At the entrance there was a Cotgreave Indicator which showed which books were in the library and which were out.  Upstairs was a flat for the librarian/caretaker.'

And as you can see, there's a very fine Monkey Puzzle tree at the entrance ....................