| Liverpool Town Hall | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Liverpool Town Hall at dusk | |
| Location | High Street,Liverpool,Merseyside, England |
| Coordinates | 53°24′26″N2°59′30″W / 53.4071°N 2.9916°W /53.4071; -2.9916 |
| OS grid reference | SJ 342 905 |
| Built | 1754 |
| Rebuilt | 1802 |
| Architect | John Wood the Elder, John Foster, James Wyatt |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Designated | 28 June 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1360219 |
  Location in Liverpool city centre | |
Liverpool Town Hall stands inHigh Street at its junction with Dale Street, Castle Street, andWater Street inLiverpool,Merseyside, England. It is recorded in theNational Heritage List for England as a designated Grade Ilisted building, and described in the list as "one of the finest surviving 18th-century town halls".[1] The authors of theBuildings of England series refer to its "magnificent scale", and consider it to be "probably the grandest ...suite of civic rooms in the country", and "an outstanding and complete example of lateGeorgian decoration".[2]
It is not an administrative building but a civic suite, lord mayor's parlour and council chamber; local government administration is centred at the nearbyCunard Building. The town hall was built between 1749 and 1754 to a design byJohn Wood the Elder replacing an earlier town hall nearby. An extension to the north designed byJames Wyatt was added in 1785. Following a fire in 1795 the hall was largely rebuilt and a dome designed by Wyatt was built. Minor alterations have subsequently been made. The streets surrounding its site have altered since its initiation, notably when viewed from Castle Street, the south-side, it appears as off-centre. This is because Water Street which ran to the junction with Dale Street, the west-east axis, was continuous and built up across the junction so that the town hall was not visible originally from that aspect. The structures were removed 150 years after this to expose the building from this position.
The ground floor contains the city's council chamber and a Hall of Remembrance for the Liverpool servicemen killed in theFirst World War. The upper floor consists of a suite of lavishly decorated rooms which are used for a variety of events and functions. Conducted tours of the building are arranged for the general public and the hall is licensed for weddings.
The first recorded town hall in Liverpool was in 1515 and it was probably athatched building.[3] and was located in the block bounded by High Street, Dale Street & Exchange Street East. It was replaced in 1673 by a building slightly to the south of the present town hall. This town hall stood on "pillars and arches of hewen stone" and under it was theexchange for merchants and traders to carry out their business.[4]
Building of the present town hall began in 1749 on a site slightly to the north of its predecessor; itsfoundation stone was laid on 14 September. The architect was John Wood the Elder, who has been described as "one of the outstanding architects of the day".[4] It was completed and opened in 1754. The ground floor acted as the exchange, and a council room and other offices were on the upper floor.[4] The ground floor had a centralcourtyard surrounded byDoriccolonnades but it was "dark and confined, and the merchants preferred to transact business in the street outside".[5] Above the building was a large square dome with acupola.[5] In 1769 the building was provided with aturret clock manufactured by Joseph Finney of Liverpool.[6]
The town hall was bombarded by striking seamen during the1775 Liverpool Seamen's Revolt.[7]
The very last act of theAmerican Civil War was whenCaptain Waddell walked up the steps of the town hall in November 1865 with a letter to present to the mayor surrendering his vessel, theCSSShenandoah, to the British government.[8]
Improvements began in 1785 with an extension to the north designed by James Wyatt. Buildings close to the west and north sides were demolished, andJohn Foster prepared plans for the west façade. In 1786 Wood's square dome was demolished and plans were made by Wyatt for a new dome over the central courtyard. In 1795, before the new dome was built, the hall was seriously damaged by a fire. Wyatt's north extension was not significantly damaged, but Wood's original building was gutted. The building was reconstructed and Wyatt's new dome was added. The work was supervised by Foster and completed in 1802. Under the dome the central courtyard was replaced with a hall containing a staircase. In 1811 aportico was added to the south side.[9] The construction and decoration of the interior was completed by about 1820.[1]
In 1857 atelegraph wire was laid from theObservatory atWaterloo Dock to the Town Hall (at the suggestion of the Director of the Observatory, John Hartnup) with the intention of using 'galvanic current' to transmit a time signal from the 'normal clock' in the observatory to the turret clock in the dome of the Town Hall, so as to ensure that it displayed accurate time.[10] This was achieved through an invention of a Mr R. L. Jones of Chester: by replacing the pendulum bob of the clock with a hollow electro-magnetic coil (in the manner ofBain's electric pendulum) and connecting it to the telegraph wire (which provided a regular pulse of current at one second intervals from the Observatory clock), the two clocks became synchronised; and so 'was seen the curious spectacle of a great clock with works nearly 100 years old keeping time with astronomical accuracy'.[11] This was the first application ofclock network technology to a large public clock; it was later applied to (among others) the clock in theVictoria Tower, and the two were thenceforth heard to strike the hour simultaneously.[12] A new hour-striking clock, by William Rogers of Liverpool, was installed in 1887.[13]
In 1881 an attempt to blow up the town hall by theFenians was aborted.[3] Between 1899 and 1900 the portico on the north face was rebuilt and extended,[9] and the northern extension was enlarged to form a recess in the Council Chamber for theLord Mayor's chair, this was the work of the borough surveyorThomas Shelmerdine.[14] In 1921 a room on the ground floor was made into the Hall of Remembrance to commemorate the military men from Liverpool who died in the First World War.[15] Part of the building was damaged in theLiverpool Blitz of 1941; this restored after the end of theSecond World War.[3] Further restoration was carried out between 1993 and 1995.[16] Between 2014 and 2015 the exterior of the building was renovated as part of a £400,000 project. The work included repairing bomb damage from the 1941 Blitz and cleaning the sandstone from the effects of pollution.[17]
The town hall is built of stone with aslate roof and a lead dome.[1] Its plan consists of a rectangle with a portico extending to the south and Wyatt's rectangular extension to the north. The extension is slightly narrower than the rest of the building, and also has a projecting portico.[5] The building has two storeys and a basement; the stonework of the basement and lower storey isrusticated. The south face, overlooking Castle Street, has nine bays. Its central three bays are occupied by the portico. This has three rounded arches on the ground floor, and four pairs ofCorinthian columns in the upper storey surrounding abalcony. The east and west faces also have nine bays in the original part of the building, plus an additional three bays to the north on Wyatt's extension. The middle three bays of the nine original bays project slightly forward and are surmounted by apediment. The roof of the north face is higher than that of the main building. This face has five bays, with a central portico of three bays. On its first floor are four pairs of Corinthian columns and standing on the roof above these are four statues dating from 1792 byRichard Westmacott;[18] these statues have been moved from theIrish Houses of Parliament.[1] Above the upper storey windows on all faces are panels containing carvings, some of which relate to Liverpool's foreign trade.[5] The dome stands on a highdrum supported on Corinthian columns. Around the base of the dome are four clock faces, each of which is supported by alion and unicorn.[9] On the summit of the dome is a statue, representingMinerva. It is 10 feet (3 m) high and was designed byJohn Charles Felix Rossi.[16]
The main door in the south face leads to theVestibule or Entrance Hall. It has a floor ofencaustic tiles which include depictions of thearms of Liverpool and the liver bird.[19]
The room ispanelled and on the east side is a large wooden fireplace containing 17th century Flemish carvings. It has agroin-vaulted ceiling, and in thelunettes aremurals painted in 1909 by J.H. Amschewitz, depicting events in Liverpool's history;King John creating Liverpool a free port (west wall); Industry and Peace (North Wall); Liverpool the centre of commerce (east wall); Education and Progress (South wall).[20] Below these are brass tablets containing the names of thefreemen of Liverpool. Also in the entrance hall arebardic chairs from the twoEisteddfods held in the city.[14][21]
At the rear of the ground floor in Wyatt's extension is the Council Chamber. This hasmahogany-panelled walls and can seat 160 people.[14][22] Adjacent to the Council Chamber is the Hall of Remembrance. On its wall are panels bearing the names of the military men who lost their lives in the First World War, and eight murals painted byFrank O. Salisbury in 1923.[14][15]
In the centre of the ground floor is the Staircase Hall described in theBuildings of England series as "one of the great architectural spaces of Liverpool".[14] A broad staircase rises between two pairs of Corinthian columns to a half-landing, and narrower flights climb from that on each side to the upper floor. On the ground floor on each side of the staircase are display cabinets holding the city's silver. On the half-landing is a statue ofGeorge Canning dated 1832 byFrancis Chantrey, and hanging on the wall above this is a portrait ofQueen Elizabeth II by Sir Edward Halliday.[19]
Above the staircase the dome is carried by fourpendentives; it rises to a height of 106 feet (32 m) and its interior iscoffered. Around the base of the dome is inscribed Liverpool's motto, "Deus Nobis Haec Otia Fecit", and in the pendentives are paintings dated 1902 byCharles Wellington Furse depicting scenes of dock labour.[23][24]
| Upper floor plan | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||
| A | Central Reception Room | B | West Reception Room | |||
| C | Dining Room | D | Large Ballroom | |||
| E | Small Ballroom | F | East Reception Room | |||
All the rooms on this floor are designed for entertainment and they have connecting doors that allow for a complete circuit of the floor. The middle room on the south side of the building is the Central Reception Room. It has a circular ceiling with pendentives, and plasterwork inneoclassical style designed by Francesco Bernasconi.[25] The room leads to the balcony overlooking Castle Street.[26] A door to the right leads to the West Reception Room, with asegmented-vaulted ceiling; it contains amarblechimneypiece withbrass andcast iron fittings.[25] This room leads to the Dining Room which occupies the west side of the building. It has been described as "the most sumptuous room in the building".[25] Around the room are Corinthian pilasters. The plaster ceiling hasmoulded compartments and under these is afrieze decorated withscrolls,urns and crouching dogs. The roundels between thecapitals of the pilasters contain paintings of pairs ofcupids.[25][27]
The next room on the circuit is a small room which leads into the Large Ballroom. This occupies the whole of Wyatt's north extension and measures 89 feet (27 m) by 42 feet (13 m); the ceiling is 40 feet (12 m) high. Around the room are Corinthian pilasters and on each of the shorter walls is a massive mirror. In the south wall is aniche for musicians, over which is a coffered semi-dome; on each side of this is a white marble chimneypiece.[28][29] Hanging from the ceiling are "three of the finest Georgianchandeliers in Europe";[29] each is 28 feet (9 m) high, contains 20,000 pieces of cut glass crystal, and weighs over one ton. They were made inStaffordshire in 1820. The floor is amaplesprung dance floor.[29] Most of the east side of the hall is occupied by the Small Ballroom, also known as the East Reception Room or Music Room. This room is surrounded by pilasters and at each end is a shallowapse; the apse in the north wall has two niches for musicians. Suspended from the ceiling are three 19th century chandeliers.[2][30] Completing the circuit is the East Reception Room, similar in style to the West Reception Room.[2] The rooms contain a number of portraits; one of these is ofJames Maury, America's firstconsul.[31]
Liverpool City Council meets every seven weeks in the council chamber to conduct the business of the city.[22] The town hall is open to the general public each month when conducted tours take place.[32] The hall is licensed for weddings and, in addition to providing a venue for the ceremony, catering facilities can be supplied for a reception or a meal.[33] Catering is also available for other events and functions.[34] Council officers and their departments are based in the nearbyCunard Building.[35]
Immediately to the north of the town hall is a paved square known as Exchange Flags; this is surrounded on all sides by modern office buildings. In the square is theNelson Monument, celebrating the achievements ofHoratio Nelson. It is a Grade II* listed building and is the earliest surviving public monument in the city.[36]
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Citations
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