The Mechanics Institute, Swindon.

This building has a very sad history. The Institute was built using subscriptions from the GWR railway workers and was the first lending library in the UK. It was set up to help educate the workforce of Swindon. It now lies derelict and has been repeatedly set on fire and vandalised.

A bit more about the building:

This extract was taken from the BBC website.
A derelict building in Swindon once used to educate railway workers has been put in the top 10 of the Victorian Society's "most endangered" list.

The organisation said the Mechanics' Institute had fallen into a "terrible state" since it closed in 1986.

It said the "magnificent" Grade II*-listed structure had fallen prey to vandals and arsonists.

The council said it had done everything it could legally to protect it from "the neglect of the private owner".

The Mechanics' Institute was opened in 1854 as an educational centre for railway workers but closed in 1986 and has stood empty since then.

In 2002, Forefront Estates Ltd bought the building and planned to develop it but the company was dissolved for failing to file its accounts on time.

Now the Victorian Society, a charity which campaigns to preserve Victorian and Edwardian structures, wants the council to step in to protect "one of the best buildings in Swindon".