It was probably designed by the stonemason and carver James Paty the Elder, the first in a succession of members of the Paty family prominent as builders of 18th century Bristol,[REF][REF] although John Strahan has also been suggested as a possible architect [REF].
The Old Library's reading room had contained antique furniture and fittings, including an ornate oak overmantel carved by Grinling Gibbons.