BURY ATHENAEUM

1 Minute books (8 items) 1848 - 1983

GAT/2 Membership registers (4 items) 1886 - 1943

GAT/3 Account Books (3 items) 1925 - 1984

GAT/4 Miscellaneous (18 items) 1856 - 1986

• <corpname>Bury Athenaeum, Lancashire</corpname>
• <corpname>Bury Athenaeum, Greater Manchester</corpname>

In 1836 a small Mechanics Institute was established in Bury, in Silver St, then at premises in the Wylde provided by one of the directors, Edmund Grundy. In 1848, a meeting held at the Institute agreed to promote a more ambitious scheme for 'The Bury Athenaeum for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge', to be housed in purpose-built premises on a site offered by Lord Derby in Haymarket Street. The building was designed by Lord Derby's architect, Sidney Smirke, to form part of a group with the adjacent Town Hall (now the Metro Arts Centre). It was completed at the end of 1852, when the building committee handed the property over to the board of directors of the institution, who also took over the remaining functions of the Mechanics Institute.

The Athenaeum provided various recreational facilities, including a billiard room, library, newsroom and darkroom. Many local groups also hired rooms for events, some of these later becoming formally affiliated to the Athenaeum, such as the operatic and photographic societies [for records of the music society, see RBM]. The Athenaeum also played a prominent role in local education, providing classes in subjects such as mathematics, languages, physics and chemistry, machine construction and technical drawing. These classes ceased in 1892, as government grants were no longer available following the assignment of such work to local authorities under the Technical Instruction Act of 1889.

In 1958, the Athenaeum moved to the former Bury Dispensary building in Moss Street, and the old premises were demolished to make way for the new council education department headquarters, Athenaeum House.