John Rylands Library four boundaries, was noted for the pleasant contrast between the 'sullen roar' of Manchester and the 'internal cloister quietude of Rylands'. It was lit by oriel windows in the reading alcoves supplemented by high clerestory windows along both sides. Embellishments in the reading room include two large stained glass windows with portraits of religious and secular figures, designed by C. E. Kempe; a series of statues in the reading room by Bridgeman's of Lichfield; and bronzework in the art nouveau style by Singer of Frome. The portraits in sculpture (20) and stained glass (40) represent a selection of personages from
John Rylands He employed 15,000 people in his 17 mills and factories, which produced 35 long tons (39 short tons) of cloth a day. From 1857, John Rylands lived at Longford Hall, in Stretford, an Italianate mansion he built on the site of an earlier house. In 2009 the local council placed a "blue plaque" at the site of Longford Hall to commemorate John and Enriqueta Rylands. He was a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Curriers. Rylands was retired and reserved except in the company of his friends, and always shrank from public office of any kind, although he was not