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| Liverpool | |||
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| — Metropolitan borough & City — | |||
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| Nickname(s): The Pool | |||
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| Coordinates: 53°24′N 2°59′W / 53.4°N 2.983°W | |||
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom | ||
| Constituent country | England | ||
| Region | North West England | ||
| Ceremonial county | Merseyside | ||
| Admin HQ | Liverpool City Centre | ||
| Founded | 1207 | ||
| City Status | 1880 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | Metropolitan borough, City | ||
| - Governing body | Liverpool City Council | ||
| Area | |||
| - Metropolitan borough & City | 43.2 sq mi (111.84 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 230 ft (70 m) | ||
| Population (2007 est / Urban=2006) | |||
| - Metropolitan borough & City | 434,900 (Ranked 9th) | ||
| - Density | 12,952.5/sq mi (5,001/km2) | ||
| - Urban | 816,900 | ||
| - Metro | 1,103,089 | ||
| - Ethnicity (2007 Estimate)[1] |
91.5% White 2.3% Chinese and other 2.3% Asian or Asian British 2.0% Mixed Race 1.9% Black or Black British |
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| Time zone | Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | British Summer Time (UTC+1) | ||
| Postal Code | L postcode area | ||
| Area code(s) | 0151 | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-LIV | ||
| ONS code | 00BY | ||
| OS grid reference | SJ3490 | ||
| NUTS 3 | UKD52 | ||
| Demonym | Scouser/Liverpudlian | ||
| Website | www.liverpool.gov.uk | ||
Liverpool (pronounced /ˈlɪvɚpuːl/) is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880. Liverpool is the fourth largest city in the United Kingdom and has a population of 435,500, and lies at the centre of the wider Liverpool Urban Area, which has a population of 816,216.[2]
Historically a part of Lancashire, the urbanisation and expansion of Liverpool were largely brought about by the city's status as a major port. By the 18th century, trade from the West Indies, Ireland and mainland Europe coupled with close links with the Atlantic Slave Trade furthered the economic expansion of Liverpool. By the early 19th century, 40% of the world's trade passed through Liverpool's docks, contributing to Liverpool's rise as a major city.
Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians but are also known as "Scousers", in reference to the local dish known as "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.[3] Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, were drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.
The popularity of The Beatles and the other groups from the Merseybeat era contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination; tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. In 2007 the city celebrated its 800th anniversary, and in 2008 it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway.[4]
In 2004, several areas throughout the city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO. Referred to as the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City, the site comprises six separate locations in the city including the Pier Head, Albert Dock and William Brown Street and includes many of the city's most famous landmarks.[5]
Contents |
King John's letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, but by the middle of the 16th century the population was still only around 500. The original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in a H shape:
In the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, including an eighteen-day siege in 1644. In 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. As trade from the West Indies surpassed that of Ireland and Europe, and as the River Dee silted up, Liverpool began to grow. The first commercial wet dock was built in Liverpool in 1715.[6][7] Substantial profits from the slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow. By the close of the century Liverpool controlled over 41% of Europe's and 80% of Britain's slave commerce.
By the start of the 19th century, 40% of the world's trade was passing through Liverpool and the construction of major buildings reflected this wealth. In 1830, Liverpool and Manchester became the first cities to have an intercity rail link, through the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The population continued to rise rapidly, especially during the 1840s when Irish migrants began arriving by the hundreds of thousands as a result of the Great Famine. By 1851, approximately 25% of the city's population was Irish-born. During the first part of the 20th century, Liverpool was drawing immigrants from across Europe.
The Housing Act 1919 resulted in mass council housing building across Liverpool during the 1920s and 1930s. Thousands of families were rehoused from the inner-city to new suburban housing estates, based on the pretext that this would improve their standard of living, though this is largely subjective. A large number of private homes were also built during this era. The process continued after the Second World War, with many more new housing estates being built in suburban areas, while some of the older inner city areas where also redeveloped for new homes.
During the Second World War there were 80 air-raids on Merseyside, killing 2,500 people and causing damage to almost half the homes in the metropolitan area. Significant rebuilding followed the war, including massive housing estates and the Seaforth Dock, the largest dock project in Britain. Much of the immediate reconstruction of the city centre has been deeply unpopular, and was as flawed as much town planning renewal in the 1950s and 1960s - the portions of the city's heritage that survived German bombing could not withstand the efforts of urban renewal. Since 1952 Liverpool has been twinned with Cologne, Germany, a city which also experienced aerial bombing during the war.
In the 1960s Liverpool was the centre of the "Merseybeat" sound which became synonymous with The Beatles and fellow Liverpudlian rock bands.
From the mid-1970s onwards Liverpool's docks and traditional manufacturing industries went into sharp decline. The advent of containerisation meant that the city's docks became largely obsolete. In the early 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were among the highest in the UK. In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the mid-nineties.
Previously part of Lancashire, and a county borough from 1889, Liverpool became in 1974 a metropolitan borough within the newly created metropolitan county of Merseyside.
At the end of the 20th century Liverpool was concentrating on regeneration, a process which still continues today. To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, the conservation charity Plantlife organised a competition to choose county flowers; the sea-holly was Liverpool's final choice.
Capitalising on the popularity of 1960s rock groups, such as The Beatles, as well as the city's world-class art galleries, museums and landmarks, tourism has also become a significant factor in Liverpool's economy.
In 2004, property developer Grosvenor started the Paradise Project, a £920 m development centered on Paradise Street, which involved the most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool 1', the centre opened in May 2008.
In 2007 the city celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, for which a number of events were planned. Liverpool is a joint European Capital of Culture for 2008. The main celebrations, in September 2008, included La Princesse, a large mechanical spider which is 20 metres high and weighs 37 tonnes, and represents the "eight legs" of Liverpool: honour, history, music, the Mersey, the ports, governance, sunshine and culture. La Princesse roamed the streets of the city during the festivities, and concluded by entering the Queensway Tunnel.
Liverpool was described as such by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister associated with the height of Britain's Imperial ambition. For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,[8] and Liverpool's Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.[9] Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own Whitehall office.[10]
The first United States consul anywhere in the world, James Maury, was appointed to Liverpool in 1790, and remained in office for 39 years.
As early as 1851 the city was described as "the New York of Europe"[11] and its buildings, constructed on a heroic, even megalomaniacal scale stand witness to the supreme confidence and ambition of the city at the turn of the 20th century. Liverpool was also the site of the UK's first provincial airport, operating from 1930.
Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1, often seen as Britain's Imperial anthem, was dedicated by the composer to the Liverpool Orchestral Society and had its premiere in the city in October 1901.
During the Second World War, the critical strategic importance of Liverpool was recognised by both Hitler and Churchill, with the city suffering a blitz second only to London's, and the pivotal Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.[12]
Ferries, railways, transatlantic steamships, municipal trams,[13] electric trains[14] and the helicopter[15] were all pioneered in Liverpool as modes of mass transit.
The first School for the Blind[16], High School for Girls,[17][18] council house[19] and Juvenile Court[20] were all founded in Liverpool. The RSPCA[21], NSPCC[22], Age Concern[23], Relate, Citizen's Advice Bureau[24] and Legal Aid all evolved from work in the city.
In the field of public health, the first lifeboat station, public baths and wash-houses,[25] sanitary act,[26] medical officer for health, district nurse, slum clearance,[27] purpose-built ambulance,[28] X-ray medical diagnosis,[29] school of tropical medicine, motorised municipal fire-engine,[30] free school milk and school meals,[31] cancer research centre,[32] and zoonosis research centre [33] all originated in Liverpool. The first British Nobel Prize was awarded in 1902 to Ronald Ross, professor at the School of Tropical Medicine, the first school of its kind in the world.[34] Orthopaedic surgery was pioneered in Liverpool by Hugh Owen Thomas[35], and modern medical anaesthetics by Thomas Cecil Gray.
In finance, Liverpool founded the UK's first Underwriters' Association[36] and the first Institute of Accountants. The Western world's first financial derivatives (cotton futures) were traded on the Liverpool Cotton Exchange in the late 1700s.[37]
In the arts, Liverpool was home to the first lending library, athenaeum society, arts centre[38] and public art conservation centre[39]. Liverpool is also home to the UK's oldest surviving classical orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.[40]
In 1864, Peter Ellis built the world's first iron-framed, curtain-walled office building, Oriel Chambers, the prototype of the skyscraper.
In 1897, the Lumière brothers filmed Liverpool,[41] including what is believed to be the world's first tracking shot,[42] taken from the Liverpool Overhead Railway - the world's first elevated electrified railway.
Liverpool inventor Frank Hornby was a visionary in toy development and manufacture and produced three of the most popular lines of toys in the twentieth century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys.
In 1999, Liverpool was the first city outside the capital to be awarded blue plaques by English Heritage in recognition of the "significant contribution made by its sons and daughters in all walks of life."[43]
Liverpool has three tiers of governance; the Local Council, the National Government and the European Parliament. Liverpool is officially governed by a Unitary Authority, as when Merseyside County Council was disbanded civic functions were returned to a district borough level. However several services such as the Police and Fire and Rescue Service, continue to be run at a county-wide level.
The City of Liverpool is governed by Liverpool City Council, and is one of five metropolitan boroughs that combine to make up the metropolitan county of Merseyside. The council consists of 90 elected councillors who represent local communities throughout the city,[44] as well as a five man executive management team who are responsible for the day to day running of the council.[45] Part of the responsibility of the councillors is the election of a council leader and Lord Mayor. The council leader's responsibility is to provide directionality for the council as well as acting as medium between the local council, central government and private & public partners.[46] The Lord Mayor acts as the 'first citizen' of the city and is responsible for promoting the city, supporting local charities & community groups as well as representing the city at civic events [47] The current council leader is Warren Bradley, and current Lord Mayor is Councillor Mike Storey.[48]
For local elections the city is split into 30 local council wards,[49] which in alphabetical order are:
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As of September 2008 the council is controlled by the Liberal Democrats who took 45 seats to Labour's 39 in the most recent local election. Of the remaining seats the Liberal Party won three, the Green Party claimed two and the last one went to an independent councillor. The Conservative Party, one of the three major political parties in the UK had no representation on Liverpool City Council.[50] Officially the result was classified as no overall control in the city, however following the defection of Croxteth Independent Councillor Nadia Stewart, the Lib Dems increased their number of seats to 46 allowing the current administration to continue.[51] In February 2008, Liverpool City Council was revealed to be the worst performing council in the country, receiving just a one star rating (classified as inadequate). The main cause of the poor rating was attributed to the councils poor handling of tax-payer money, including the accumulation of a £20m shortfall on Capital of Culture funding.[52]
Within Liverpool there are five parliamentary constituencies through which Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected to represent the city in Westminster: Liverpool Garston, Liverpool Riverside, Liverpool Walton, Liverpool Wavertree and Liverpool West Derby.[53] At the last general election, all were won by Labour with representation being from Maria Eagle, Louise Ellman, Peter Kilfoyle, Jane Kennedy and Bob Wareing respectively. In proposed constituency boundary changes for the 2010 general election, Liverpool will only have four seats completely within the city boundaries after the announcement of plans to merge Liverpool Garston with Halewood (which was previously part of Knowsley South), creating a cross-boundary seat.[54] The Conservative party has not won a city constituency since 1979, and at the last election in 2005 scored less than 10% in every seat.
Liverpool has been described as having "the most splendid setting of any English city."[55] At 53°24′0″N 2°59′0″W / 53.4°N 2.983333°W (53.4, -2.98), 176 miles (283 km) northwest of London, the city of Liverpool is built across a ridge of sandstone hills rising up to a height of around 230 feet (70 metres) above sea-level at Everton Hill, which represents the southern boundary of the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. Liverpool Urban Area runs directly into Bootle, Crosby and Maghull in south Sefton to the north, and Kirkby, Huyton, Prescot and Halewood in Knowsley to the east. It faces Wallasey and Birkenhead across the River Mersey to the west.
Liverpool experiences a temperate maritime climate, like much of the British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild winters.
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high °C (°F) | 6.6 (44) |
6.6 (44) |
9.4 (49) |
11.6 (53) |
15.5 (60) |
17.7 (64) |
20 (68) |
19.4 (67) |
16.6 (62) |
12.7 (55) |
9.4 (49) |
7.7 (46) |
12.7 (55) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2.2 (36) |
2.2 (36) |
3.3 (38) |
4.4 (40) |
7.2 (45) |
10.5 (51) |
12.7 (55) |
12.2 (54) |
10 (50) |
7.2 (45) |
4.4 (40) |
3.3 (38) |
6.6 (44) |
| Source: [56] 2008-12-19 | |||||||||||||
As with other major British cities, Liverpool has a large and diverse population. At the 2001 UK Census the recorded population of Liverpool was 441,900,[57] whilst a mid-2008 estimate by the Office for National Statistics had the city's population as 434,900.[58] Liverpool's population peaked in 1930s with 846,101 recorded in the 1931 census.[59] Since then the city has experienced negative population growth every decade, with at its peak over 100,000 people leaving the city between 1971 and 1981.[60] Between 2001 and 2006 it experienced the ninth largest percentage population loss of any UK unitary authority.[61] The "Liverpool city region", as defined by the Mersey Partnership, includes Wirral, Warrington, Flintshire, Chester and other areas, and has a population in excess of 2 million.[62]
In common with many cities, Liverpool's population is younger than that of England as a whole, with 42.3 per cent of its population under the age of 30, compared to an English average of 37.4 per cent.[63] 65.1 per cent of the population is of working age.[63]
Liverpool is home to Britain's oldest Black community, dating to at least the 1730s, and some Black Liverpudlians are able to trace their ancestors in the city back ten generations.[64] Early Black settlers in the city included seamen, the children of traders sent to be educated, and freed slaves, since slaves entering the country after 1722 were deemed free men.[65]
The city is also home to the oldest Chinese community in Europe; the first residents of the city's Chinatown arrived as seamen in the nineteenth century.[66] The gateway in Chinatown, Liverpool is also the largest gateway outside of China. The city is also known for its large Irish and Welsh populations.[67] In 1813, 10 per cent of Liverpool's population was Welsh, leading to the city becoming known as "the capital of North Wales".[67] Following the start of the Great Irish Famine, two million Irish people migrated to Liverpool in the space of one decade, many of them subsequently departing for the United States.[68] By 1851, more than 20 per cent of the population of Liverpool was Irish.[69] At the 2001 Census, 1.17 per cent of the population were Welsh-born and 0.75 per cent were born in the Republic of Ireland, while 0.54 per cent were born in Northern Ireland,[70] but many more Liverpudlians are of Welsh or Irish ancestry.
As of June 2007, an estimated 91.5 per cent of Liverpool's population was White, 2.3 per cent Asian or Asian British, 1.9 per cent Black or Black British, 2.0 per cent mixed-race and 2.3 per cent Chinese and other.[1]
The thousands of migrants and sailors passing through Liverpool resulted in a religious diversity that is still apparent today. This is reflected in the equally diverse collection of religious buildings,[71] and two Christian cathedrals.
Christ Church, in Buckingham Road, Tuebrook, is a conservative evangelical congregation and is affiliated with the Evangelical Connexion.[72] They worship using the 1785 Prayer Book, and regard the Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice.
The parish church of Liverpool is the Anglican Our Lady and St Nicholas, colloquially known as "the sailors church", which has existed near the waterfront since 1257. It regularly plays host to Catholic masses. Other notable churches include the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas (built in the Neo-Byzantine architecture style), and the Gustav Adolfus Kyrka (the Swedish Seamen's Church, reminiscent of Nordic styles).
Liverpool's wealth as a port city enabled the construction of two enormous cathedrals, both dating from the 20th century. The Anglican Cathedral, which was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and plays host to the annual Liverpool Shakespeare Festival, has one of the longest naves, largest organs and heaviest and highest peals of bells in the world. The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral, on Mount Pleasant next to Liverpool Science Park was initially planned to be even larger. Of Sir Edwin Lutyens' original design, only the crypt was completed. The cathedral was eventually built to a simpler design by Sir Frederick Gibberd; while this is on a smaller scale than Lutyens' original design, it still manages to incorporate the largest panel of stained glass in the world. The road running between the two cathedrals is called Hope Street, a coincidence which pleases believers. The cathedral is colloquially referred to as "Paddy's Wigwam" due to its shape.[73][74]
Liverpool contains several synagogues, of which the Grade I listed Moorish Revival Princes Road Synagogue is architecturally the most notable. Princes Road is widely considered to be the most magnificent of Britain's Moorish Revival synagogues and one of the finest buildings in Liverpool.[75] Liverpool has a thriving Jewish community with a further two orthodox Synagogues, one in the Allerton district of the city and a second in the Childwall district of the city where a significant Jewish community reside. A third orthodox Synagogue in the Greenbank Park area of L17 has recently closed, and is a listed 1930s structure. There is also a Lubavitch Chabad House and a reform Synagogue. Liverpool has had a Jewish community since the mid-18th century. The current Jewish population of Liverpool is around 3000.[76]
Liverpool also has an increasing Hindu community, with a Mandir on 253 Edge Lane; the Radha Krishna Hindu Temple from the Hindu Cultural Organisation based there. The current Hindu population in Liverpool is about 1147.[citation needed] Liverpool also has the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in L15.
The city had one of the earliest mosques in Britain, founded in 1887 by William Abdullah Quilliam, a lawyer who had converted to Islam. This mosque, which was also the first in England, however no longer exists.[77] Plans have been ongoing to re-convert the building where the mosque once stood into a museum.[78] Currently there are three mosques in Liverpool: the largest and main one, Al-Rahma mosque, in the Toxteth area of the city and a mosque recently opened in the Mossley Hill district of the city. The third mosque was also recently opened in Toxteth and is on Granby Street.
The Economy of Liverpool is one of the largest within the United Kingdom, sitting at the centre of one of the two core economies within the North West of England.[79] In 2006, the city's GVA was £7,626 million, providing a per capita figure of £17,489, which was above the North West average.[80] After several decades of decline, Liverpool's economy has seen somewhat of a revival since the mid-1990s, with its GVA increasing 71.8% between 1995 and 2006 and employment increasing 12% between 1998 and 2006.[80]
In common with much of the rest of the UK today, Liverpool's economy is dominated by service sector industries, both public and private. In 2007, over 60% of all employment in the city was in the public administration, education, health, banking, finance and insurance sectors.[80] Over recent years there has also been significant growth in the knowledge economy of Liverpool in sectors such as media and life sciences.[81] Liverpool's rich architectural base has also helped the city become the second most filmed city in the UK outside of London,[82] including doubling for Chicago, London, Moscow, New York, Paris and Rome.[83][84]
Another important component of Liverpool's economy are the tourism and leisure sectors. Liverpool is the 6th most visited city in the United Kingdom[85] and one of the 100 most visited cities in the world by international tourists.[86] In 2008, during the city's European Capital of Culture celebrations, overnight visitors brought £188m into the local economy,[85] while tourism as a whole is worth approximately £1.3bn a year to Liverpool.[84] The city's new cruise liner terminal, which is situated close to the Pier Head, also makes Liverpool one of the few places in the world where cruise ships are able to berth right in the centre of the city.[87] Other recent developments in Liverpool such as the Echo Arena and Liverpool One have made Liverpool an important leisure centre with the latter helping to lift Liverpool into the top 5 retail destinations in the UK.[88]
Historically, the economy of Liverpool was centred around the city's port and manufacturing base, although today less than 10% of employment in the city are in these sectors.[80] Nonetheless the city remains one of the most important ports in the United Kingdom, handling over 32.2m tonnes of cargo in 2008.[89] It is also home to the UK headquarters of many shipping lines including Japanese firm NYK and Danish firm Maersk Line.[90][91] Future plans to redevelop the city's northern dock system, in a project known as Liverpool Waters, could see £5.5bn invested in the city over the next 50 years, creating 17,000 new jobs.[92]
Liverpool's history means that there are a considerable variety of architectural styles found within the city, ranging from 16th century Tudor style, right through to modern day contemporary architecture.[93] The majority of buildings in the city date from the late-eighteenth century onwards, the period during which the city grew into one of the foremost powers in the British Empire.[94] There are over 2,500 listed buildings in Liverpool, of which 27 are Grade I listed[95] and 85 are Grade II* listed,[96] and only the UK capital London, has more.[97] The city also has a greater number of public sculptures than any other location in the United Kingdom aside from Westminster[98] and more Georgian houses than the city of Bath.[99] This richness of architecture has subsequently seen Liverpool described by English Heritage, as England's finest Victorian city.[100] The value of Liverpool's architecture and design was recognised in 2004, when several areas throughout the city were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Known as the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City, the sites were added in recognition of the city's role in the development of International trade and docking technology.[101]
As a major British port, the docks in Liverpool have historically been central to the city's development. Several major docking firsts have occurred in the city including the construction of the world's first enclosed wet dock (the Old Dock) in 1715 and the first ever hydraulic lifting cranes.[102] The most well known dock in Liverpool is the Albert Dock, which was constructed in 1846 and today comprises the largest single collection of Grade I listed buildings anywhere in Britain.[103] Built under the guidance of Jesse Hartley, it was considered to be one of the most advanced docks anywhere in the world upon completion and is often attributed with helping the city to become one of the most important ports in the world. North of the city centre is Stanley Dock, home to the Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse, which was at the time of its construction in 1901, the world's largest building in terms of area[104] and today stands as the world's largest brick-work building.[105]
One of the most famous locations in Liverpool is the Pier Head, renowned for the trio of buildings - the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building - which sit upon it. Collectively referred to as the Three Graces, these buildings stand as a testament to the great wealth in the city during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Built in a variety of architectural styles, they are recognised as being the symbol of Maritime Liverpool, and are regarded by many as contributing to one of the most impressive waterfronts in the world.[106][107][108][109]
In recent years, several areas along Liverpool's waterfront have undergone significant redevelopment. Amongst the notable recent developments are the construction of the Liverpool Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre on Kings Dock, Alexandra Tower on Princes Dock and Liverpool Marina around Coburg and Brunswick Docks.
Liverpool's historic position as one of the most important trading ports in the world has meant that over time many grand buildings have been constructed in the city as headquarters for shipping firms, insurance companies, banks and other large firms. The great wealth this brought, then allowed for the development of grand civic buildings, which were designed to allow the local administrators to 'run the city with pride'.[110]
The commercial district is centred around the Castle Street, Dale Street and Old Hall Street areas of the city, with many of the area's roads still following their medieval layout. Having developed over a period of three centuries the area is regarded as one of the most important architectural locations in the city, as recognised by its inclusion in Liverpool's World Heritage site.[111] The oldest building in the area is the Grade I listed Liverpool Town Hall, which is located at the top of Castle Street and dates from 1754. Often regarded as the city's finest piece of Georgian architecture, the building is noted as one of the most extravagantly decorated civic buildings anywhere in Britain.[112][113] Also on Castle Street is the Grade I listed Bank of England Building, constructed between 1845–1848, as one of only three provincial branches of the national bank.[112] Amongst the other noted buildings in the area are the Tower Buildings, Albion House (the former White Star Line headquarters), the Municipal Buildings and Oriel Chambers,[114] which is considered to be one of the earliest Modernist style buildings ever built.[115]
The area around William Brown Street is referred to as the city's 'Cultural Quarter', owing to the presence of numerous civic buildings, including the William Brown Library, Walker Art Gallery, Picton Reading Rooms and World Museum Liverpool. The area is dominated by neo-classical architecture, of which the most prominent, St George's Hall,[116] is widely regarded as the best example of a neo-classical building anywhere in Europe.[117] A Grade I listed building, it was constructed between 1840 and 1855 to serve a variety of civic functions in the city and its doors are inscribed with "S.P.Q.L." (Latin senatus populusque Liverpudliensis), meaning the "the senate and people of Liverpool". William Brown Street is also home to numerous public monuments and sculptures, including Wellington's Column and the Steble Fountain. Many others are located around the area, particularly in St John's Gardens, which was specifically developed for this purpose.[118]
Whilst the majority of Liverpool's architecture dates from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, there are several buildings that pre-date this time. One of the oldest surviving buildings is Speke Hall, a Tudor manor house located in the south of the city, which was completed in 1598.[119] The building is one of the few remaining timber framed Tudor houses left in the north of England and is particularly noted for its Victorian interior, which was added in the mid-19th century.[120] In addition to Speke Hall, many of the city's other oldest surviving buildings are also former manor houses including Croxteth Hall and Woolton Hall, which were completed in 1702 and 1704 respectively.[121] The oldest building within the city centre is the Grade I listed Bluecoat Chambers,[122] which was built between 1717 and 1718. Constructed in British Queen Anne style,[123][124] the building was influenced in part by the work of Christopher Wren[125] and was originally the home of the Bluecoat School (who later moved to larger site in the south of the city). Since 1908 it has acted as a centre for arts in Liverpool.[123]
Liverpool is noted for having two Cathedrals, each of which imposes over the landscape around it.[126] The Anglican Cathedral, which was constructed between 1904 and 1978, is the largest Cathedral in Britain[127] and the fifth largest in the world. Designed and built in Gothic style, it is regarded as one of the greatest buildings to have been constructed during the 20th century[128] and was described by former British Poet Laureate, John Betjeman, as 'one of the great buildings of the world’.[129] The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral was constructed between 1962 and 1967 and is noted as one of the first Cathedrals to break the traditional longitudinal design.[130]
In recent years, many parts of Liverpool's city centre have undergone significant redevelopment and regeneration after years of decline. The largest of these developments has been Liverpool One, which has seen almost £1 billion invested in the redevelopment of 42 acres of land, providing new retail, commercial, residential and leisure space.[131] Around the north of the city centre several new skyscrapers have also been constructed including the RIBA award winning Unity Buildings and West Tower, which at 140m is Liverpool's tallest building. Many future redevelopment schemes are also planned including Central Village (planning permission granted),[132] the Lime Street gateway (work started)[133] and the highly ambitious Liverpool Waters (early planning stage).[134]
There are many other notable buildings in Liverpool, including the art deco former terminal building of Speke Airport, the University of Liverpool's Victoria Building, (which provided the inspiration for the term Red Brick University), and the Adelphi Hotel, which was in that past considered to be one of the finest hotels anywhere in the world.[135]
The English Heritage National Register of Historic Parks describes Merseyside’s Victorian Parks as collectively the "most important in the country" [136] The city of Liverpool has ten listed parks and cemeteries, including three Grade II*, more than any other English city apart from London.[137]
Transport in Liverpool is primarily centred around the city's road and rail networks, both of which are extensive and provide links across the United Kingdom. Liverpool has an extensive local public transport network, which is managed by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive, and includes buses, trains and ferries. Additionally, the city also has an international airport and a major port, both of which provides links to locations outside the country.
As a major city, Liverpool has direct road links with many other areas within England. To the east, the M62 motorway connects Liverpool with Hull and along the route provides links to several large cities, including Manchester, Leeds and Bradford. The M62 also provides a connection to both the M6 motorway and M1 Motorway, providing indirect links to more distant areas including Birmingham, Sheffield, Preston, London and Nottingham.[138] To the west of the city, the Kingsway and Queensway Tunnels connect Liverpool with the Wirral Peninsula, providing links to both Birkenhead, and Wallasey. The A41 road, which begins in Birkenhead, also provides links to Cheshire and Shropshire and via the A55 road, North Wales.[139] To the south, Liverpool is connected to Widnes and Warrington via the A562 road and subsequently across the River Mersey to Runcorn, via the Silver Jubilee Bridge. Plans have been developed in recent years to construct a second bridge, known as the Mersey Gateway, across the river in order to alleviate congestion on the route today.
Liverpool is served by two separate rail networks. The local rail network is managed and run by Merseyrail and provides links throughout Merseyside and beyond (see Local Travel below), whilst the national network, which is managed by Network Rail, provides Liverpool with connections to major towns and cities across the England. The city's primary mainline station is Lime Street station, which acts as a terminus for several lines into the city. Train services from Lime Street provide connections to numerous destinations, including London (in 2 hours 8 minutes with Pendolino trains[citation needed]), Birmingham, Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester, Preston, Leeds, Scarborough, Sheffield, Nottingham and Norwich. In the south of the city, Liverpool South Parkway provides a connection to the city's airport.
The Port of Liverpool is one of Britain's largest ports, providing passenger ferry services across the Irish Sea to Belfast, Dublin and the Isle of Man. Services are provided by several companies, including the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, P&O and Norfolkline. In 2007, a new cruise liner terminal was opened in Liverpool, located alongside the Pier Head in the city centre. The terminal will allow cruise ships to dock in the city (40 ships are due in during 2009[140]) and also provide a base for trans-Atlantic services.[141]
Liverpool John Lennon Airport, which is located in the south of the city, provides Liverpool with direct air connections across the United Kingdom and Europe. In 2008, the airport handled over 5.3 million passengers[142] and today offers services to 68 destinations,[143] including Berlin, Rome, Milan, Paris, Barcelona and Zurich. The airport is primarily served by low-cost airlines, notably Ryanair and Easyjet, although it does provide additional charter services in the summer. In 2008, Dutch airline KLM started a three-times daily service to Amsterdam from JLA, providing passengers with the option to fly to over 650 destinations across the world with the airline, via the Dutch airport.[144]
Local bus services within and around Liverpool are managed by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (more commonly known as Merseytravel)[145] and are run by several different companies, including Arriva and Stagecoach. The two principal termini for local buses are Queen Square Bus Station (located near Lime Street railway station) for services north and east of the city, and Liverpool One Bus Station formerly known as Paradise Street Bus Interchange (located near the Albert Dock) for services to the south and east. Cross-river services to the Wirral use roadside terminus points in Castle Street and Sir Thomas Street. A night bus service also operates on Saturdays providing services from the city centre across Liverpool and Merseyside.[146]
Liverpool's local rail network is one of the busiest and most extensive in the country, covering 75 miles of track, with an average of 100,000 passenger journeys per weekday.[147][148] Services are operated by the Merseyrail franchise and managed by the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. The network consists of three lines: the Northern Line, which runs to Southport, Ormskirk, Kirkby and Hunts Cross; the Wirral Line, which runs through the Mersey Railway Tunnel and has branches to New Brighton, West Kirby, Chester and Ellesmere Port; and the City Line, which begins at Lime Street, providing links to St Helens, Wigan, Preston, Warrington and Manchester. It should be noted that local services on the city line are operated by Northern Rail rather than Merseyrail, although the line itself remains part of the Merseyrail network. Within the city centre the majority of the network is underground, with 5 city centre stations and over 6.5 miles of tunnels.[147]
The cross river ferry service in Liverpool, known as the Mersey Ferry, is managed and operated by Merseytravel, with services operating between the Pier Head in Liverpool and both Woodside in Birkenhead and Seacombe in Wallasey. Services operate at intervals ranging from 20 minutes at peak times, to every hour during the middle of the day and during weekends.[149] Despite remaining an important transport link between the city and the Wirral Peninsula, the Mersey Ferry has become an increasingly popular tourist attraction within the city, with daytime River Explorer Cruises providing passengers with an historical overview of the River Mersey and surrounding areas.[150]
As with other large cities, Liverpool is an important cultural centre within the United Kingdom, incorporating music, performing arts, museums and art galleries, literature and nightlife amongst others. In 2008, the cultural heritage of the city was celebrated with the city holding the title of European Capital of Culture, during which time a wide range of cultural celebrations took place in the city, including Go Superlambananas! and La Princesse.
Liverpool is a internationally renowned centre for music and is recognised by Guinness World Records as the World Capital City of Pop.[151] Musicians from the city have produced 56 number one singles, more than any other city in the world.[152][153] Liverpool is most famous as the birthplace of The Beatles and during the 1960s was at the forefront of the Beat Music movement, which would eventually lead to British Invasion. Many notable musicians of the time originated in the city including Billy J Kramer, Cilla Black, Gerry & the Pacemakers and The Searchers. The influence of musicians from Liverpool, coupled with other cultural exploits of the time, such as the Liverpool poets, prompted American poet Allen Ginsburg to proclaim that the city was "the centre of consciousness of the human universe".[154] Other notable musicians from Liverpool have included Billy Fury, Echo and the Bunnymen, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Frankie Vaughan and more recently Atomic Kitten and Melanie C.
The city is also home to the oldest surviving professional symphony orchestra in the UK, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, which is based in the Philharmonic Hall.[155] The current chief conductor of the orchestra is Vasily Petrenko.[156] Sir Edward Elgar dedicated his famous Pomp and Circumstance No.1 to the Liverpool Orchestral Society, and the piece had its first performance in the city in 1901.[citation needed] Among Liverpool's curiosities, the Austrian émigré Fritz Spiegl is notable. He not only became a world expert on the etymology of Scouse, but composed the music to Z-cars and the Radio 4 UK Theme.
Liverpool has more galleries and national museums than any other city in the United Kingdom apart from London[157]. National Museums Liverpool is the only English national collection based wholly outside London.[158] The Tate Liverpool gallery houses the modern art collection of the Tate in the North of England and was, until the opening of Tate Modern, the largest exhibition space dedicated to modern art in the United Kingdom. The FACT centre hosts touring multimedia exhibitions, whilst the Walker Art Gallery houses an extensive collection of Pre-Raphaelites. Sudley House contains another major collection of pre 20th century art[159], and the number of galleries continues to expand: Ceri Hand Gallery opened in 2008, exhibiting primarily contemporary art, and Liverpool University's Victoria Building was re-opened as a public art gallery and museum to display the University's artwork and historical collections which include the second-largest display of art by Audubon outside the US[citation needed].
Artists have also come from the city, including painter George Stubbs who was born in Liverpool in 1724.
The Liverpool Biennial festival of arts runs from mid-September to late November and comprises three main sections; the International, The Independents and New Contemporaries although fringe events are timed to coincide[160]. It was during the 2004 festival that Yoko Ono's work "My mother is beautiful" caused widespread public protest when photographs of a naked woman's pubic area were exhibited on the main shopping street. Despite protests the work remained in place[citation needed].
A number of notable authors have visited Liverpool including Daniel Defoe, Washington Irving, Thomas De Quincey, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, Gerald Manley Hopkins and Hugh Walpole all of whom spent extended periods in the city[citation needed]. Hawthorne was stationed in Liverpool as United States consul between 1853 and 1856[citation needed]. Although he is not known to have ever visited Liverpool, Jung famously had a vivid dream of the city which he analysed in one of his works.[161]
During the late 1960s the city became well-known for the Liverpool poets, who include Roger McGough and the late Adrian Henri. An anthology of poems, The Mersey Sound, written by Henri, McGough and Brian Patten, has sold over 500,000 copies since first being published in 1967[citation needed].
Liverpool also has a history of performing arts, reflected in its annual theatrical highlight The Liverpool Shakespeare Festival which takes place inside Liverpool Cathedral and in the adjacent historic St James' Gardens every summer, and by the number of theatres in the city. These include the Empire, Everyman, Liverpool Playhouse, Neptune, Royal Court and the Unity Theatre. The Everyman Theatre, Unity Theatre and Playhouse Theatre all run their own theatre companies.[162][163]
In Liverpool primary and secondary education is available in various forms supported by the state including secular, Church of England, Jewish, and Roman Catholic. Islamic education is available at primary level, but there is currently no secondary provision. One of Liverpool's important early schools was The Liverpool Blue Coat School; founded in 1708 as a charitable school.
The Liverpool Blue Coat School is the top-performing school in the city with 100% 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE resulting in the 30th best GCSE results in the country and an average point score per student of 1087.4 in A/AS levels.[164] Other notable schools include Liverpool College founded in 1840 Merchant Taylors' School founded in 1620.[165] Another of Liverpool's notable senior schools is St. Edward's College situated in the West Derby area of the city. Historic grammar schools, such as the Liverpool Institute High School & Liverpool Collegiate, closed in the 1980s are still remembered as centres of academic excellence. Bellerive Catholic College is the city's top performing non selective school, based upon GCSE results in 2007.
Liverpool has three universities: the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Hope University. Edge Hill University, originally founded as a teacher-training college in the Edge Hill district of Liverpool, is now located in Ormskirk in South-West Lancashire.
The University of Liverpool, was established in 1881 as University College Liverpool. In 1884, became part of the federal Victoria University. Following a Royal Charter and Act of Parliament in 1903, it became an independent university, the University of Liverpool, with the right to confer its own degrees. It was the first university to offer degrees in biochemistry, architecture, civic design, veterinary science, oceanography and social science.
Liverpool Hope University, founded in 1844, is situated on both sides of Taggart Avenue in Childwall and a second Campus in the City Centre (The Cornerstone). Hope is quickly making a name for itself within the Liberal Arts, the University has also enjoyed successes in terms of high graduate employability, campus development, and a substantial increase in student applications from outside of the City.
The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, founded to address some of the problems created by trade, continues today as a post-graduate school affiliated with the University of Liverpool and is one of only two institutions internationally that house the de facto standard anti-venom repository.[citation needed]
Liverpool John Moores University was previously a polytechnic, and gained status in 1992. It is named in honour of Sir John Moores, one of the founders of the Littlewoods football pools and retail group, who was a major benefactor. The institution was previously owned and run by Liverpool City Council.
The city has one further education college, Liverpool Community College. Liverpool City Council operates Burton Manor, a residential adult education college in nearby Burton, on the Wirral Peninsula.
There are two Jewish schools in Liverpool, both belonging to the King David Foundation. King David School, Liverpool is the High School and the King David Primary School. There is also a King David Kindergarten, featured in the community centre of Harold House. These schools are all run by the King David Foundation based in Harold House in Childwall; conveniently next door to the Childwall Synagogue
Liverpool is home to two Premier League football clubs–Liverpool F.C. and Everton. Liverpool is the only English city to have staged top division football every single season since the formation of the Football League in 1888, and both of the city's clubs play in high-capacity stadiums.
Liverpool F.C. are the most successful team in English football, having won 18 league titles, seven FA Cups, seven League Cups, five European Cups and three UEFA Cups. They formed in 1892 and have spent their entire history at the Anfield stadium which they occupied on their formation; it had previously been home to Everton. Liverpool have been in the top flight of English football continuously since 1962 and have been managed by Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish (who also played for the club and for a while was player-manager), Gerard Houllier and their current manager Rafael Benítez. Famous Liverpool players include Billy Liddell, Ian St. John, Roger Hunt, Ron Yeats, Emlyn Hughes, Kevin Keegan, Ian Rush, Graeme Souness, Robbie Fowler and Steven Gerrard. However, the club also has an association with tragedy; in 1985, rioting on the terraces during the European Cup final at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, resulted in the death of 39 spectators (almost all of them Juventus supporters) and led to all English clubs being barred from European competitions for the next five years (with Liverpool having to serve an extra year when all other English clubs were re-admitted). Four years later, 94 Liverpool fans (the toll eventually reached 96) were crushed to death at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield at the FA Cup semi-final. This tragedy led to the Taylor Report which saw standing accommodation banned from all top division stadiums by the mid 1990s.
Everton are the older of Liverpool's two professional football clubs. They were founded in 1878 and have played at Goodison Park since 1892, when they relocated from the Anfield stadium that was taken over by the new Liverpool club. Everton have been league champions nine times, FA Cup winners five times and European Cup Winners' Cup winners once. Their most successful managers were Harry Catterick and Howard Kendall. Many high profile players have worn the Everton shirt. These include Dixie Dean (who scored a record 60 goals in a single league season), Tommy Lawton, Brian Labone, Ray Wilson, Alan Ball (who both featured in England's World Cup winning side of 1966), Neville Southall, Andy Gray, Gary Lineker, Andrei Kanchelskis, Dave Watson and Wayne Rooney.
Since the turn of the 21st century, both Liverpool-based clubs have been considering relocation to new stadiums. Liverpool have been planning a new stadium on nearby Stanley Park for some years, while Everton are currently investigating the possibility of a new stadium in Kirkby after an earlier project to relocate to King's Dock fell through due to financial difficulties.
Professional basketball is played in the city with the addition of Everton Tigers into the elite British Basketball League in 2007. The club is associated with Everton Football Club, and is part of the Toxteth Tigers youth development programme, which reaches over 1,500 young people every year.[166] The Tigers will commence play in Britain's top league for the 2007-08 season, though their home venue has yet to be confirmed. Their closest professional rivals are the Chester Jets, based 18 miles away in Chester.
County cricket is occasionally played in Liverpool, with Lancashire County Cricket Club typically playing one match every year at Liverpool Cricket Club, Aigburth.
Aintree Racecourse to the north of Liverpool in the adjacent borough of Sefton is home to the famous steeplechase, the Grand National, One of the most famous events in the international horse racing calendar, it is held in early April each year. In addition to horse-racing, Aintree has also hosted motor racing, including the British Grand Prix in the 1950s and 1960s.
Liverpool Harriers, who meet at Wavertree Athletics Centre, are one of five athletic clubs. Liverpool has a long history of boxing that has produced John Conteh, Alan Rudkin and Paul Hodkinson and hosts high level amateur boxing events. Park Road Gymnastics Centre provides training to a high level. The City of Liverpool Swimming Club has been National Speedo League Champions 8 out of the last 11 years. Liverpool Tennis Development Programme based at Wavertree Tennis Centre is one of the largest in the UK.[167] Liverpool is also home to the Red Triangle Karate Club, which provided many of the 1990 squad that won the World Shotokan Championships in Sunderland. Luminaries include Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda, Sensei Frank Brennan, Sensei Omry Weiss, Sensei Dekel Kerer, Sensei Andy Sherry and Sensei Terry O'Neill, who is also famous for various acting roles.
Rugby league is played at amateur and student level within the city; the last professional team bearing the city's name was Liverpool City, which folded in the 1960s. Rugby Union has a long, if low key, history in the city with Liverpool Football Club were formed in 1857 making them the oldest open rugby teams in the world. They merged with St Helens RUFC in 1986 to form Liverpool St Helens.[168] In Sefton there is Waterloo Rugby Club located in Blundellsands. Established in 1882 they now play in National Division Two.
Liverpool is one of three cities which still host the traditional sport of British Baseball and it hosts the annual England-Wales international match every two years, alternating with Cardiff and Newport. Liverpool Trojans are the oldest existing baseball club in the UK.
The Royal Liverpool Golf Club, situated in the nearby town of Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, has hosted The Open Championship on a number of occasions, most recently in 2008. It has also hosted the Walker Cup.
Liverpool have played at Anfield since 1892, when the club was formed to occupy the stadium following Everton's departure due to a dispute with their landlord. Liverpool are still playing there 116 years later, although the ground has been completely rebuilt since the 1970s and only the Main Stand survives from before 1992. The Spion Kop (rebuilt as an all-seater stand in 1994/1995) was the most famous part of the ground, gaining cult status across the world due to the songs and celebrations of the many fans who packed onto its terraces. Anfield is classified as a 4 Star UEFA Elite Stadium with capacity for 45,000 spectators in comfort, and is a distinctive landmark in an area filled with smaller and older buildings. Liverpool club also has a multi-million dollar youth training facility called The Academy.
After leaving Anfield in 1892, Everton moved to Goodison Park on the opposite side of Stanley Park. Goodison Park was the first major football stadium built in England. Molineux (Wolves' ground) had been opened three years earlier but was still relatively undeveloped. St. James's Park, Newcastle, opened in 1892, was little more than a field. Only Scotland had more advanced grounds. Rangers opened Ibrox in 1887, while Celtic Park was officially inaugurated at the same time as Goodison Park. Everton performed a miraculous transformation at Mere Green, spending up to £3000 on laying out the ground and erecting stands on three sides. For £552 Mr. Barton prepared the land at 4½d a square yard. Kelly Brothers of Walton built two uncovered stands each for 4,000 people, and a covered stand seating 3,000, at a total cost of £1,460. Outside, hoardings cost a further £150, gates and sheds cost £132 10s and 12 turnstiles added another £7 15s to the bill.
The ground was immediately renamed Goodison Park and proudly opened on 24 August 1892, by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall of the FA. But instead of a match the 12,000 crowd saw a short athletics meeting followed by a selection of music and a fireworks display. Everton's first game there was on 2 September 1892 when they beat Bolton 4-2. It now has the capacity for more than 40,000 spectators all-seated, but the last expansion took place in 1994 when a new goal-end stand gave the stadium an all-seater capacity. The Main Stand dates back to the 1970s, while the other two stands are refurbished pre-Second World War structures.
There are currently plans for both stadiums to be pulled down and for the teams to relocate. Liverpool have been considering a move to a new stadium in Stanley Park since 2000; seven years on work has started and the 60,000-seat stadium is expected to be ready by 2010.
Everton have been considering relocation since 1996, and in 2003 were forced to scrap plans for a 55,000-seat stadium at King's Dock due to financial reasons. The latest plan has been to move beyond Liverpool's council boundary to Kirkby, but this has proved controversial with some fans, as well as members of the local community. At one point there was much talk for Everton to ground-share with Liverpool, at the proposed new stadium in Stanley Park, but this was not progressed by either club.
The ITV region which covers Liverpool is ITV Granada. In 2006, the Television company opened a new newsroom in the Royal Liver Building. Granada's regional news broadcasts were produced at the Albert Dock News Centre during the 1980s and 1990s.[169] The BBC also opened a new newsroom on Hanover Street in 2006.
ITV's daily magazine programme This Morning was famously broadcast from studios at Albert Dock until 1996, when production was moved to London. Granada's short-lived shopping channel "Shop!" was also produced in Liverpool until it was axed in 2002.
Liverpool is the home of the TV production company Lime Pictures, formerly Mersey Television, which produced the now-defunct soap operas Brookside and Grange Hill. It also produces the current soap opera Hollyoaks, which was formerly filmed in Chester and began on Channel 4 in 1995. All three series were/are largely filmed in the Childwall area of Liverpool.
The city has two daily newspapers: the morning Daily Post and the evening Echo, both published by the same company, the Trinity Mirror group. The Daily Post, especially, serves a wider area, including north Wales. The UK's first online only weekly newspaper called Southport Reporter (Southport & Mersey Reporter), is also one of the many other news outlets that covers the city. Radio stations include BBC Radio Merseyside, Juice FM, KCR FM and Radio City 96.7, City Talk 105.9, as well as Magic 1548. The last three are based in St. John's Beacon which, along with the two cathedrals, dominates the city's skyline. The independent media organisation Indymedia also covers Liverpool, while 'Nerve' magazine publishes articles and reviews of cultural events.
Liverpool has also featured in films[170]; see List of films set in Liverpool for some of them. In films the city has "doubled" for London, Paris, New York, Moscow, Dublin, Venice and Berlin.[8][171]
Liverpool was the host city for the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Liverpool is twinned[173] with the following cities:
| Country | Place | County / District / Region / State | Date | |||
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Germany |  |
Cologne |  |
North Rhine-Westphalia | 1952 |
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Dublin |  |
Leinster | 1997 |
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China | Shanghai | Shanghai Municipality | 1999 |
Liverpool also has links with the following cities:
New York, USA - Freedom of the City of Liverpool - August 2003
Riga, Latvia - Letter of Intent signed - March 2003
Stavanger, Norway - Letter of Intent signed - June 2004
Cape Verdean Consulate
Hungarian Consulate
Italian Consulate
Netherlands Consulate Norwegian Consulate
Royal Swedish Consulate
Royal Thai Consulate
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Coordinates: 53°24′N 3°00′W / 53.4°N 3°W
Liverpool [1] is a city in Merseyside, England, famed for its music, sports and nightlife.
Liverpool is a city with great cultural heritage and was awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2008, with the famous Pier Head Waterfront being a UNESCO World Heritage site [2] since 2004. Liverpool is home to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and is also renowned for being the birthplace of a wide range of popular musicians including The Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Frankie goes to Hollywood, Echo & the Bunnymen and many more. The city possesses the largest national museum collection outside of London and has a fascinating and turbulent history as a great world maritime centre. Liverpool is home to Europe's oldest Chinatown. The famous Grand National Horse Race takes place in the outskirts of the city (Aintree).
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (IATA: LPL) (ICAO: EGGP), [3]. Around 160 flights arrive daily from within the UK and Europe. The airport is well-served by low-cost airlines including Easyjet and Ryanair. For a complete listing of airlines and destinations, see the Summer [4] and Winter [5] timetables.
The airport offers a Fast Track service, which for a charge, means you can bypass the queue at security, but this tends to be worthwhile only for first flights of the day or if you risk missing your flight.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport is about 12km to the south of the city centre. Immediately outside the arrivals area you will find a taxi rank and bus stops. Taxis to the city centre cost around £12 (Approx. €16, US$24) for the 20 minute journey.
Several bus routes go directly to the city centre from the airport:
The following local buses cost £1.60 to get into the city centre (£1.40 for students). As discussed above, they're as quick and cheaper to use:
The 80A and 86A also stop at Liverpool South Parkway station. It's a 10 minutes journey from where a frequent train service runs to the city centre in about 15 minutes. This may be a better option at times of peak road traffic (8AM-9AM, 5PM-6PM).
Manchester Airport (IATA: MAN) (ICAO: EGCC) can also be used and may be a better option. It is about a 45-60 minute drive away from Liverpool. Direct train services also run between Liverpool Lime Street Station and Manchester Airport operated by Northern Rail. Manchester Airport serves a variety of long haul destinations in North America and Asia, as well as short haul services throughout Europe.
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Liverpool L24 1YD |
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Bristol BS48 3DY |
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Liverpool is served by Liverpool Lime Street station which is in the heart of the city centre. Trains arrive frequently from all parts of the U.K.
Liverpool is only about two hours from London by train. There's a train about every hour, with extra weekday evening peak services from London, and it's not too expensive to get there. You can get a saver ticket for £60 on the day of travel, or for as little as £12.50 if you book a couple of weeks in advance.
There is a direct train from Manchester Airport to Liverpool every hour at peak times (around 6:30AM-7:30PM). In addition, it is possible to reach Liverpool by changing at Manchester Piccadilly or Manchester Oxford Road.
Other main services
Birmingham, 1 hr 30 - 1h 45 minutes, half hourly Manchester, 50 minutes - 1h 10 minutes, 5 trains an hour (3 fast to Piccadilly and Oxford Road, of which 1 via Earlestown and 2 via Warrington, 1 slow to Oxford Road (extra services in peak times) and 1 slow to Victoria) Leeds, 2 hours, hourly Sheffield and Nottingham, 1h 30 mins and 3 hours respectively, hourly
Over the next 10 years a Park and Ride scheme will be developed, with easy access to the city centre, for more information see National Park and Ride Directory [9].
Liverpool City Centre is small enough to walk around, but black cabs are plentiful if you are feeling lazy. Buses run out from the centre regularly from Paradise Street Interchange (mainly to the south) and Queen Square (mainly north/east). Both bus stations have travel centres with sometimes helpful staff who will assist with which bus to get and from which stand. At these, Saveaway, Solo and Trio travel passes can be purchased. The Saveaway presents a good value for the visitor, at £3.30 for unlimited travel for one day in 'Area C' (includes city centre, west out to Huyton, north to Crosby and south to Speke), including trains. All-zones saveaways can be obtained for about a pound more and will take you through the whole of the Merseytravel area. Perfect for visiting the Wirral ,and as far as Chester, or Southport, these include train and ferry services as well as buses. Trio (train, bus and ferry) and Solo (bus only) tickets require a photo, but have no peak-time limitations and can be bought for a week, month or year. This is ideal for visitors staying longer or working and therefore requiring more flexible travel. A Trio for one week costs about £14.70 for one zone, a Solo about the same for one area.
The train service in Liverpool is quite reliable and efficient these days (having once been nicknamed 'Miseryrail' and 'MerseyFail' by commuters). The main stations in the city centre are Central, Lime Street, Moorfields and James Street. Lime Street is the terminus for many national lines and the local city line to Manchester. Moorfields is just off Dale Street, ideal for the business centre of Liverpool and Central is usually used by shoppers and visitors. Local trains run very frequently between Hunts Cross, Kirkby, Ormskirk and Southport on the Northern line. They run every 15 minutes from Monday to Saturday and 30 minutes on Sunday. Central station is the main station for the Northern line, although the 'loop' links the three main city centre stations. The Wirral line forms the link between the Lime Street, Moorfields and Central, so all of these stations act as an interchange between the City, Northern and Wirral lines.
A new station in the south of Liverpool replaced the old Garston and Allerton stations in June 2006. This links the Northern and City lines and is ideal for the airport. It also acts as an interchange for a number of local buses. Adult bus fares on the main operator Arriva are a flat £1.60, or £1.40 for students, throughout the Merseyside area. Similar flat fares are available from the other operators as well. There are also limited night bus services on a Saturday night costing £3.00. Some buses are subsidised by Merseytravel, such as early morning and hospital services, and there is a maximum fare of around 80p. If you plan to travel a lot, a pre-paid pass presents much better value. Generally speaking, you save money with two or more train trips or three or more bus journeys.
A great thing about Liverpool is the architecture. For so long it was neglected and run down, but these days most of the city centre is quite splendid.
Comedy nights are featured on Friday and Saturday at Baby Blue, a nice club on the exclusive Albert Dock, which is known as a celebrity hotspot. Check online [28] for more info and tickets.
Also for laughs, try Rawhide at the Royal Court Theater which showcases some of the best in regional and national comedy talent.
Every June or July there is a fortnight long *Liverpool Comedy Festival which takes place in venues across the city. One event not to be missed is the now legendary Drink up Stand up pub crawls which includes four pubs, four comedians, one compere (host) and a megaphone!
On the first Tuesday of the month the Fab Café on Hope Street hosts a comedy night with two or three local comics plus a compere.
Express Comedy, [29]. Based in Birkenhead across the river Mersey, Express Comedy has a stand-up comedy night called Laughter at the Lauries.
For those in a hurry there are a number of operators offering guided tours, either using their own transportation or offering their services as "hop-on, hop-off Guides" on your coach or offering guided walks. The best way of getting an overview of the city, is by taking the City Explorer open-top bus [30] run by Maghull Coaches. With 12 stops you can hop on and off all day. Qualified local guides provide the commentary and can answer your questions about the city. For Beatles fans, there is the Magical Mystery Tour [31] which will take you around the places associated with the Beatles both in the city centre and in the suburbs. For a more tailored tour, there's Liverpool Entente Cordiale Tours [32]. Their Liverpool tour guides can plan a walk for you or hop on your coach and guide you around the city. They offer tours in English or French. They can also locate guides Spanish, German, Chinese and Russian if necessary.
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Trivia Liverpool's Kop end at Anfield was named after Spioenkop (Spy Hill) in KwaZulu-Natal. The Lancashire brigade comprised the largest part of the British forces during the Battle of Spioenkop and, when they returned to Britain, the earth mound at Anfield (used by spectators to get a clear view of the game, before any of the stands were build) reminded them of Spioenkop |
Liverpool is home to three Universities:
Although the main shopping street in Liverpool is dominated by the same chain stores you'll find in any other large U.K. city, Liverpool has many distinctive shops of its own including:
There are various pubs serving food accross the city centre and its suburbs. The two main areas are the City Centre and Lark Lane about three miles from the city centre in Aigburth. There are various restaurants on Allerton Road (near Liverpool South Parkway) as well. Expect to spend around £10-£15 for a meal for two. Check with your hotel first if they allow food delivery.
Lark Lane is about 2.5 miles to the south of the city centre and is one of the better places to eat out. The road, which connects Aigburth Road with Sefton Park, is home to many unique restaurants, cafés and other shops. Some choice picks include:
There's a good selection of pubs, clubs and bars to suit a variety of music and atmospheric tastes. Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest nights, although many bars are busy with students throughout the week. Mathew Street and Concert Square with nearby Wood Street are the main two nocturnal focal points. There is a good mix of locals and students. It is best to dress smart for the majority of bars and clubs (such as "Society" and "Garlands"). Notable exceptions are places like Le Bateau, the Krazy house, the Caledonian and other places of a similar alternative style. Like any major UK city , it is pretty safe out at night. The local police have had a heavy presence on a Friday and Saturday night to combat any problems and are largely succeeding. It is pretty busy getting out of the city centre at the end of a weekend (especially at the start of university term time - Sep/Oct). There are plenty of black hackney cabs which congregate at various taxi ranks. The Merseyrail system works until about midnight, whilst there are a series of dedicated night buses which run from the main bus stations, usually for a flat fare. All modes of transport tend to become very busy from around midnight.
Liverpool is home to the Cains brewery which produces a large selection of cask beers.
Concert Square is situated behind Bold Street, where you'll find a range of the trendier bars. Most bars are open until 2AM Mon.-Sat. They include Lloyd's, Walkabout, Modo and a minute away near Slater Street is Baa-Bar.
There are a number of hotels in the city, ranging from budget guesthouses and lodges to 4 star international properties. Liverpool presently has no 5 star hotels although the Hope Street Hotel, a boutique hotel on Hope Street and easily Liverpool’s finest hotel, would certainly qualify if it wasn’t far too posh to bother with things like stars.
Crime rates in Liverpool are low compared with most other large cities in the UK. You are no more likely to be a victim here than most other European cities. However, as in other cities, you should observe a few simple precautions. Don't leave valuables on display in an unattended car, for example. Try to stay aware of your surroundings and be discreet with cash, expensive camera equipment, etc.
Contrary to what people from Manchester would have you believe, Scousers are gregarious people, but there are still those who seek to take advantage. Be particularly aware of people who approach you in the street with stories of having lost their train fare home. These are typically begging techniques.
Stay on the beaten track at night and stick to the many themed pub and bars and avoid some of the larger dance clubs as they these are more suited to streetwise locals or people who understand Liverpool culture well, although to be fair, most Scousers will welcome anyone to their city, and especially their clubs! Be prepared to wait for a taxi at night and don't be tempted to walk back to your hotel unless you are close by. Although Liverpool is a wonderfully friendly place, as with most major cities a slightly sinister side appears after hours.
Some of the City's districts are best avoided by tourists who are not familiar with the area. This is due to a high rise in gang and gun violence in districts such as Page Moss, Croxteth, Norris Green, Huyton, Kirkdale, Toxteth and Everton.
Although prostitution is legal in the UK, solicitation is illegal and it is a fact of life in all major cities, Liverpool being no exception. The "Red Light" areas are as follows: around Netherfield Road North and the Shiel Road area of Kensington. Although quiet during the day, there is a lot of business at night and particularly on weekends. Women walking by themselves have been known to be approached by men looking for prostitutes and people in vehicles have been known to be approached by prostitutes looking for business.
Avoid football shirts, particularly Manchester United shirts, which worn in the wrong place makes you an easy target for abuse or worse, especially on match day.
A friendly manner, a polite smile, and a sense of humour go a long way in this city, but a sensible approach to travelling is, as always, advisable.
Manchester – Once the home of the industrial revolution, it has now swapped its chimneys for skyscrapers, and mill workers for urbanite accountants and designers. Well worth a visit and is easy to get to by train or coach/bus. Less than an hour away.
Chester - A beautiful historical city on the River Dee, which is famous for its Roman ruins and city walls. It is also the Gateway to North Wales and the delights of Llandudno and Snowdonia National Park. Forty minutes by Merseyrail.
Crosby - Just north of Liverpool with Anthony Gormley's Another Place famous sculptures on the beach.
Birkenhead – Across the Mersey, Birkenhead has a football club called Tranmere Rovers. Although this club has always lived in the shadow of Everton and Liverpool, it has a long tradition and a great family atmosphere. Well worth a visit.
Port Sunlight - On the Wirral. It was built as a model village by Lord Lever and contains the Lady Lever Art Gallery, a marvelously eclectic collection of objects, similar to the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. Twenty minutes by train.
West Kirby - Also located on the Wirral, boasts a superb beach. There is also a 52 acre marine lake which has sailing and windsurfing. Thirty minutes by train (from all four downtown Liverpool stations, Wirral line, every 15/30min).
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LIVERPOOL, a city, municipal, county and parliamentary borough, and seaport of Lancashire, England, 201 m. N.W. of London by rail, situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Mersey, the centre of the city being about 3 m. from the open sea. The form of the city is that of an irregular semicircle, having the base line formed by the docks and quays extending about 9 m. along the east bank of the estuary, which here runs nearly north and south, and varies in breadth from 1 to 2 m. On the north the city is partly bounded by the borough of Bootle, along the shore of which the line of docks is continued. The area of the city is 16,619 acres exclusive of water area. The population at the census of 1901 was 684,958; the estimated population in 1908 was 753,203; the birth-rate for 1907 was 31 7 and the death-rate 18.3; in 1908 the rateable value was £4,679,520.
The city lies on a continuous slope varying in gradient, but in some districts very steep. Exposed to the western sea breezes, with a dry subsoil and excellent natural drainage, the site is naturally healthy. The old borough, lying between the pool, now completely obliterated, and the river, was a conglomeration of narrow alleys without any regard to sanitary provisions; and during the 16th and 17th centuries it was several times visited by plague. When the town expanded beyond its original limits, and spread up the slopes beyond the pool, a better state of things began to exist. The older parts of the town have at successive periods been entirely taken down and renovated. The commercial part of the city is remarkable for the number of palatial piles of offices, built chiefly of stone, among which the banks and insurance offices stand pre-eminent. The demand for cottages about the beginning of the 19th century led to the construction of what are called "courts," being narrow cols de sac, close packed, with no through ventilation. This resulted in a high rate of mortality, to contend with which enormous sums have been expended in sanitary reforms of various kinds. The more modern cottages and blocks of artisan dwellings have tended to reduce the rate of mortality.
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The earliest public park, the Prince's Park, was laid out in 1843 by private enterprise, and is owned by trustees, but the reversion has been acquired by the corporation. Sefton Park, the most extensive, containing 269 acres, was opened in 1872. A large portion of the land round the margin has been leased for the erection of villas. Wavertree, Newsham, Sheil and Stanley Parks have also been constructed at the public expense. Connected with Wavertree Park are the botanic gardens. A palm house in Sefton Park was opened in 1896 and a conservatory in Stanley Park in 1900. Since 1882 several of the city churchyards and burial grounds and many open spaces have been laid out as gardens and recreation grounds. A playground containing 108 acres in Wavertree was presented to the city in 1895 by an anonymous donor, and in 1902 the grounds of a private residence outside the city boundaries containing 94 acres were acquired and are now known as Calderstones Park. In 1906 about loo acres of land in Roby, also outside the boundaries, was presented to the city. The total area of the parks and gardens of the city, not including the two last named, is 8812 acres. A boulevard about 1 m. in length, planted with trees in the centre, leads to the entrance of Prince's Park.
Scarcely any of the public buildings date from an earlier period than the 1 9th century. One of the earliest, and in many respects the most interesting, is the town-hall in Castle Street. This was erected from the designs of John Wood of Bath, and was opened in 1754. The building has since undergone considerable alterations and extensions, but the main features remain. It is a rectangular stone building in the Corinthian style, with an advanced portico added to the original building in 1811, and crowned with a lofty dome surmounted by a seated statue of Britannia, added in 1802. The interior was destroyed by fire in 1795, and was entirely remodelled in the restoration. In 1900 considerable alterations in the internal structure were made, and the council chamber extended so as to afford accommodation for the enlarged council. It contains a splendid suite of apartments, including a ball-room approached by a noble staircase. The building is occupied by the mayor as the municipal mansion house. A range of municipal offices was erected in Dale Street in 1860. The building is in the Palladian style, with a dominating tower and square pyramidal spire.
The crowning architectural feature of Liverpool is St George's Hall, completed in 1854. The original intention was to erect a hall suited for the triennial music festivals which had been held in the town. About the same time the corporation proposed to erect lawcourts for the assizes, which had been transferred to Liverpool and Manchester. In the competitive designs, the first prize was gained in both cases by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes. He was employed to combine the two objects in a new design, of which the present building is the outcome. It is fortunate in its situation, occupying the most central position in the town, and surrounded by an area sufficiently extensive to exhibit its proportions, an advantage which was accentuated in 1898 by the removal of St John's church, which previously prevented an uninterrupted view of the west side. The plan is simple. The centre is occupied by the great hall, 169 ft. in length, and, with the galleries, 87 ft. wide and 74 ft. high, covered with a solid vault in masonry. Attached to each end, and opening therefrom, .,, Seacombe, e? y `, `- - Riverside Station ``?
stagel landing Stage Rock lferr, y Per To New fer ry are the law-courts. A corridor runs round the hall and the courts, communicating with the various accessory rooms. Externally the east front is faced with a fine portico of sixteen Corinthian columns about 60 ft. in height. An advanced portico of similar columns fronts the south end crowned with a pediment filled with sculpture. The style is Roman, but the refinement of th' details is suggestive of the best period of Grecian art. The great hall is finished with polished granite columns, marble balustrades and pavements, polished brass doors with foliated tracery. The fine organ was built by Messrs Willis of London, from the specification of Dr Samuel Wesley. Elmes having died in 1847 during the progress of the work, the building was completed by C. R. Cockerell, R.A.
Next to the public buildings belonging to the city, the most important is the exchange, forming three sides of a quadrangle on the north side of the town-hall. The town-hall was originally built to combine a mercantile exchange with municipal offices, but the merchants preferred to meet in the open street adjoining. This, with other circumstances, led to the erection of a new exchange, a building of considerable merit, which was begun in 1803 and opened in 1808. It had scarcely been in use for more than fifty years when it was found that the wants of commerce had outstripped the accommodation, and the structure was taken down to make room for the present building.
The revenue buildings, begun in 1828 on the site of the original Liverpool dock, formerly combined the customs, inland revenue, post-office and dock board departments but are now only used by the two first named. It is a heavy structure, with three advanced porticoes in the Ilyssus Ionic style. Near by stands the sailors' home, a large building in the Elizabethan style. The Philharmonic Hall in Hope Street, with not much pretension externally, is one of the finest music rooms in the kingdom; it accommodates an audience of about 2500.
The group of buildings forming the county sessions house, the free public library, museum, central technical school and gallery of art are finely situated on the slope to the north of St George's Hall. The library and gallery of art are separate buildings, connected by the circular reading-room in the middle. The latter possesses some features in construction worthy of note, having a circular floor loo ft. in diameter without columns or any intermediate support, and a lecture-room underneath, amphitheatrical in form, with grades or benches hewn out of the solid rock. In 1884 the county sessions house just mentioned, adjoining the art gallery was opened for public business. In 1899 new post-office buildings in Victoria Street were completed. In 1907 two important additions were made to the buildings of Liverpool, the new offices of the dock board, built on the site of a portion of the Old George's dock, and the new cotton exchange in Oldhall street. The fine mass of buildings which constitute the university and the Royal Infirmary, lying between Brownlow Hill and Pembroke Place, both groups designed by Alfred Waterhouse, was begun in 1885.
Liverpool cathedral, intended when completed to be the largest in the country, from designs by G. F. Bodley and G. Gilbert Scott, was begun in 1904, when the foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII. The foundations were completed in 1906 and the superstructure begun. The foundation of the chapter-house was laid in that year by the duke of Connaught, and work was then begun on the Lady chapel, the vestries and the choir.
There are three terminal passenger stations in Liverpool, the London & North Western at Lime Street, the Lancashire & Yorkshire at Exchange and the combined station of the Midland, Great Northern & Great Central at Central. By the Mersey tunnel (opened in 1886) connexion is made with the Wirral railway, the Great Central, the Great Western and the London & North Western, on the Cheshire side of the river. The Liverpool electric overhead railway running along the line of docks from Seaforth to Dingle was opened in 1893, and in 1905 a junction was made with the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway by which through passenger traffic between Southport and the Dingle has been established. In 1895 the Riverside station at the Prince's dock was completed, giving direct access from the landing stage to the London and North Western system.
Water Supply. - The original supply of water was from wells in the sandstone rock, but in 1847 an act was passed, under which extensive works were constructed at Rivington, about 25 m. distant, and a much larger supply was obtained. The vast increase of population led to further requirements, and in 1880 another act gave power to impound the waters of the Vyrnwy, one of the affluents of the Severn. These works were completed in 1892, a temporary supply having been obtained a year earlier. The corporation had also, however, obtained power to impound the waters of the Conwy and Marchnant rivers, and to bring them into Lake Vyrnwy, the main reservoir, by means of tunnels. This work was completed and opened by the prince of Wales (George V.) in March 1910.
The corporation in 1896 purchased the property, rights, powers and privileges of the Liverpool Electric Supply Company, and in the following year the undertaking of the Liverpool Tramway Company, which they formally took over in the autumn of the same year. Since that date a large and extended system of electric tramways has been laid down, which has led to a very remarkable increase in the receipts and the number of passengers carried.
The city has quarter-sessions for criminal cases, presided over by the recorder, and held eight times in the year. At least two police courts sit daily, and more if required. One is presided over by the stipendiary magistrate and the others by the lay magistrates and the coroner. The court of passage is a very ancient institution, possibly dating from the foundation of the borough by King John, and intended for cases arising out of the imports and exports passing through the town. Its jurisdiction', has been confirmed and settled by parliament and it is competent to try civil cases arising within the city to any amount. The mayor is ex-officio the judge, but the presiding judge is an assessor appointed by the crown and paid by the corporation. The court sits about five times a year. There is a Liverpool district registry of the chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster which has concurrent jurisdiction with the high court (chancery division) within the hundred of West Derby. The vice-chancellor holds sittings in Liverpool. There is a Liverpool district registry of the high court of justice with common law, chancery, probate and admiralty jurisdiction, under two district registrars. The Liverpool county court has the usual limited jurisdiction over a wide local area, together with bankruptcy jurisdiction over the county court districts of St Helens, Widnes, Ormskirk and Southport, and admiralty jurisdiction over the same districts with the addition of Birkenhead, Chester, Runcorn and Warrington. There are two judges attached to the court.
The see of Liverpool was created in 1880 under the act of 1879, by the authority of the ecclesiastical commissioners, an endowment fund of about £100,000 having been subscribed for the purpose. The parish, which was separated from Walton-on-the-Hill in 1699, contained two churches, St Nicholas, the ancient chapel, and St Peter's, then built. There were two rectors, the living being held in medieties. Of recent years changes have been sanctioned by parliament. The living is now held by a single incumbent, and a large number of the churches which have since been built have been formed into parishes by the ecclesiastical commissioners. St Peter's has been constituted the pro-cathedral, pending the erection of the cathedral. Besides the two original parish churches, there are 103 others belonging to the establishment. The Roman Catholics form a very numerous and powerful body in the city, and it is estimated that from a third to a fourth of the entire population are Roman Catholics. A large part of these are Irish settlers or their descendants, but this district of Lancashire has always been a stronghold of Roman Catholicism, many of the landed gentry belonging to old Roman Catholic families.
The earliest charitable foundation is the Blue Coat hospital, established in 1708, for orphans and fatherless children born within the borough. The original building, opened in 1718, is a quaint and characteristic specimen of the architecture of the period. It now maintains two hundred and fifty boys and one hundred girls. In 1906 the school was removed to new buildings at Wavertree. There is an orphan asylum, established in 1840, for boys, girls and infants, and a seamen's orphan asylum, begun in 1869, for boys and girls. The Roman Catholics have similar establishments. The Liverpool dispensaries founded in 1778 were among the pioneers of medical charity. The Royal Infirmary (opened in 1749) had a school of medicine attached, which has been very successful, and is now merged in the university. The sailors' home, opened in 1852, designed to provide board, lodging and medical attendance at a moderate charge for the seamen frequenting the port, is one of Liverpool's best-known charities. The David Lewis Workmen's Hostel is an effort to solve the difficulty of providing accommodation for unmarried men of the artizan class.
The free library, museum and gallery of arts, established and managed by the city council, was originated in 1850. The first library building was erected by Sir William Brown. The Derby museum, containing the collections of Edward, the 13th earl, was presented by his son. The Mayer museum of historical antiquities and art was contributed by Mr Joseph Mayer, F.S.A. Sir Andrew Walker (d. 1893) erected in 1877 the art gallery which bears his name. Large additions were made in 1884, the cost being again defrayed by Sir Andrew Walker. An annual exhibition of painting is held in the autumn and a permanent collection has been formed, which was augmented in 1894 when the examples of early Italian art numbering altogether about 180 pictures, collected at the beginning of the 19th century by William Roscoe, were deposited in the gallery. The Picton circular reading-room, and the rotunda lecture-room were built by the corporation and opened in 1879. Alterations in the museum were completed in 1902 by which its size was practically doubled. The literary and philosophical society was established in 1812. The Royal Institution, established mainly through the efforts of Roscoe in 1817, possessed a fine gallery of early art in the Walker Art Gallery, and is the centre of the literary institutions of the town.
Sunday schools were founded for poor children in 1784, as the result of a town's meeting. These were soon followed by day-schools supplied by the various denominations. The first were the Old Church schools in Moorfields (1789), the Unitarian schools in Mount Pleasant (1790) and Manesty Lane (1792) and the Wesleyan Brunswick school (1790). In 1826 the corporation founded two elementary schools, one of which, the North Corporation school, was erected in part substitution for the grammar school founded by John Crosse, rector of St Nicholas Fleshshambles, London, a native of Liverpool, in 1515, and carried on by the Corporation until 1815. From this date onward the number rapidly increased until the beginning of the School Board in 1870, and afterwards. Mention should be made of the training ship "Indefatigable" moored in the Mersey for the sons and orphans of sailors, and the reformatory institution at Heswall, Co. Chester, which has recently replaced the training ship "Akbar" formerly moored in the Mersey. Semiprivate schools were founded by public subscription - the Royal Institution school (1819), the Liverpool Institute (1825) and the Liverpool College (1840). The first has ceased to exist. The Institute was a development of the Mechanics' Institute and was managed by a council of subscribers. It was divided into a high school and a commercial school. Under a scheme of the Board of Education under the Charitable Trusts Act this school, together with the Blackburne House high school for girls, became a public secondary school and was handed over to the corporation in 1905. Liverpool College was formerly divided into three schools, upper, middle and lower, for different classes of the community. The middle and lower schools passed into the control of the corporation in 1907. The Sefton Park elementary school and the Pupil Teachers' College in Clarence Street were transformed into municipal secondary schools for boys and girls in 1907 the corporation has also a secondary school for girls at Aigburth. There are several schools maintained by the Roman Catholics, two schools of the Girls' Public Day School Company and a large number of private schools. A cadet ship, the "Conway," for the training of boys intending to become officers in the mercantile marine, is moored in the Mersey. There are two training colleges for women, one undenominational, and the other conducted by the sisters of Notre Dame for Roman Catholic women. The central municipal technical school is in the Museum Buildings, and there are three branch technical schools. There are also a nautical college, a school of cookery and a school of art controlled by the Education Committee.
Liverpool University, as University College, received its charter of incorporation in 1881, and in 1884 was admitted as a college of the Victoria University. In the same year the medical school of the Royal Infirmary became part of the University College. In 1900 a supplemental charter extended the powers of self-government and brought the college into closer relations with the authorities of the city and with local institutions by providing for their fuller representation on the court of governors. In 1903 the charter of incorporation of the university of Liverpool was received, thus constituting it an independent university. The university is governed by the king as visitor, by a chancellor, two pro-chancellors, a vice-chancellor and a treasurer,. by a court of over 300 members representing donors and public bodies, a council, senate, faculties and convocation. The fine group of buildings is situated on Brownlow Hill.
In 1800 the tonnage of ships entering the port was 450,060; in 1908 it reached 17,111,814 tons. In 1800 4746 vessels entered, averaging 94 tons; in 1908 there were 25,739, averaging 665 tons. The commerce of Liverpool extends to every part of the world, but probably the intercourse with North America stands pre-eminent, there being lines of steamers to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Galveston, New Orleans and the Canadian ports. Cotton is the great staple import. Grain comes next, American (North and South) and Australian wheat and oats occupying a large proportion of the market. An enormous trade in American provisions, including live cattle, is carried on. Tobacco has always been a leading article of import into Liverpool, along with the sugar and rum from the West Indies. Timber forms an important part of the imports, the stacking yards extending for miles along the northern docks. In regard to exports, Liverpool possesses decided advantages; lying so near the great manufacturing districts of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, this port is the natural channel of transmission for their goods, although the Manchester ship canal diverts a certain proportion of the traffic, while coal and salt are also largely exported.
The manufactures of Liverpool are not extensive. Attempts have been repeatedly made to establish cotton mills in and near the city, but have resulted in failure. Engineering works, especially connected with marine navigation, have grown up on a large scale. Shipbuilding, in the early part of the 19th century, was active and prosperous, but has practically ceased. During the latter half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, pottery and china manufacture flourished in Liverpool. John Sadler, a Liverpool manufacturer, was the inventor of printing on pottery, and during the early period of Josiah Wedgwood's career all his goods which required printing had to be sent to Liverpool. A large establishment, called the Herculaneum Pottery, was founded in a suburb on the bank of the Mersey, but the trade has long disappeared. Litherland, the inventor of the lever watch, was a Liverpool manufacturer, and Liverpool-made watches have always been held in high estimation. There are several extensive sugar refineries and corn mills. The confectionery trade has developed during recent years, several large works having been built, induced by the prospect of obtaining cheap sugar directly from the Liverpool quays. The cutting, blending and preparing of crude tobacco have led to the erection of factories employing some thousands of hands. There are also large mills for oil-pressing and making cattle-cake.
The docks of the port of Liverpool on both sides of the Mersey are owned and managed by the same public trust, the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. On the Liverpool side they extend along the margin of the estuary 62 m., of which it m. is in the borough of Bootle. The Birkenhead docks have not such a frontage, but they extend a long way backward. The water area of the Liverpool docks and basins is 418 acres, with a lineal quayage of 27 m. The Birkenhead docks, including the great float of 120 acres, contain a water area of 165 acres, with a lineal quayage of 91 m. The system of enclosed docks was begun by the corporation in 1709. They constituted from the first a public trust, the corporation never having derived any direct revenue from them, though the common council of the borough were the trustees, and in the first instance formed the committee of management. Gradually the payers of dock rates on ships and goods acquired influence, and were introduced into the governing body, and ultimately, by an act of 1857, the corporation was superseded. The management is vested in the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, consisting of twenty-eight members, four of whom are nominated by the Mersey Conservancy commissioners, who consist of the first lord of the Admiralty, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and the president of the Board of Trade, and the rest elected by the payers of rates on ships and goods, of whom a register is kept and annually revised. The revenue is derived from tonnage rates on ships, dock rates on goods, town dues on goods, with various minor sources of income.
Down to 1843 the docks were confined to the Liverpool side of the Mersey. Several attempts made to establish docks in Cheshire had been frustrated by the Liverpool corporation, who bought up the land and kept it in their own hands. In 1843, however, a scheme for docks in Birkenhead was carried through which ultimately proved unsuccessful, and the enterprise was acquired in 1855 by Liverpool. The Birkenhead docks were for many years only partially used, but are now an important centre for corn-milling, the importation of foreign cattle and export trade to the East. In addition to the wet docks, there are in Liverpool fourteen graving docks and three in Birkenhead, besides a gridiron on the Liverpool side.
The first portion of the great landing stage, known as the Georges' stage, was constructed in 1847, from the plans of Mr (afterwards Sir) William Cubitt, F.R.S. This was 500 ft. long. In 1857 the Prince's stage, r000 ft. long, was built to the north of the Georges' stage and distant from it 500 ft. In 1874 the intervening space was filled up and the Georges' stage reconstructed. The fabric had just been completed, and was waiting to be inaugurated, when on the 28th of July 1874 it was destroyed by fire. It was again constructed with improvements. In 1896 it was farther extended to the north, and its length is now 2478 ft. and its breadth 80 ft. It is supported on floating pontoons about 200 in number, connected with the river wall by eight bridges, besides a floating bridge for heavy traffic S50 ft. in length and 35 ft. in width. The southern half is devoted to the traffic of the Mersey ferries, of which there are seven - New Brighton, Egremont, Seacombe, Birkenhead, Rock Ferry, New Ferry and Eastham. The northern half is used by ocean-going steamers and their tenders. The warehouses for storing produce form a prominent feature in the commercial part of the city. Down to 1841 these were entirely in private hands, distributed as chance might direct, but in that year a determined effort was made to construct docks with warehouses on the margin of the quays. This met with considerable opposition from those interested, and led to a municipal revolution, but the project was ultimately carried out in the construction of the Albert dock and warehouses, which were opened by Prince Albert in 1845. For general produce these warehouses are falling somewhat into disuse, but grain warehouses have been constructed by the dock board at Liverpool and Birkenhead, with machinery for discharging, elevating, distributing, drying and delivering. Warehouses for the storage of tobacco and wool have also been built by the board. The Stanley tobacco warehouse is the largest of its kind in the world, the area of its fourteen floors being some 36 acres.
Dredging operations at the bar of the Queen's channel, in the channel itself and at the landing stage enables the largest ocean liners to enter the river and approach the stage at practically all states of the tide. The dredging at the bar was begun as an experiment in September 1890 by two of the board's ordinary hopper barges of 500 tons capacity each fitted with centrifugal pumps. The result was favourable, and larger vessels have been introduced. Before dredging was begun the depth of water at dead low water of spring tides on the bar was only 11 ft.; now there is about 28 ft. under the same conditions. The space over which dredging has been carried on at the bar measures about 7000 ft. by 1250 ft., the latter being the average width of the buoyed cut or channel through the bar. Dredging has also taken place on shoals and projections of sand-banks in the main sea channels.
Under the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, the boundaries of the original borough were extended by the annexation of portions of the surrounding district, while further additions were made in 1895, 1902 and 1905. The city is divided into thirty-five wards with 103 councillors and 34 aldermen. In 1893 the title of mayor was raised to that of lord mayor. In 1885 the number of members of parliament was increased to nine by the creation of six new wards. The corporation of Liverpool has possessed from a very early period considerable landed property, the first grant having been made by Thomas, earl of Lancaster, in 1309. This land was originally of value only as a source of supply of turf for firing, but in modern times its capacity as building land has been a fruitful source of profit to the town. A large proportion of the southern district is held in freehold by the corporation and leased to tenants for terms of seventy-five years, renewable from time to time on a fixed scale of fines. There was formerly another source of income now cut off. The fee farm rents and town dues originally belonging to the crown were purchased from the Molyneux family in 1672 on a long lease, and subsequently in 1777 converted into a perpetuity. With the growth of the commerce of the port these dues enormously increased, and became a cause of great complaint by the shipping interest. In 1856 a bill was introduced into parliament, and passed, by which the town dues were transferred to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board on payment of £1,50o,000, which was applied in part to the liquidation of the bonded debt of the corporation, amounting to £1,150,000.
During the Norse irruption of the 8th century colonies of Norsemen settled on both sides of the Mersey, as is indicated by some of the place-names. After the Conquest, the site of Liverpool formed part of the fief (inter Ripam et Mersham) granted by the Conqueror to Roger de Poictou, one of the great family of Montgomery. Although Liverpool is not named in Domesday it is believed to have been one of the six berewicks dependent on the manor of West Derby therein mentioned. After various forfeitures and regrants from the crown, it was handed over by Henry II. to his falconer Warine. In a deed executed by King John, then earl of Mortain, about 1191, confirming the grant of this with other manors to Henry Fitzwarine, son of the former grantee, the name of Liverpool first occurs. Probably its most plausible derivation is from the Norse Hlithar-pollr, "the pool of the slopes," the pool or inlet at the mouth of which the village grew up being surrounded by gently rising slopes. Another possible derivation is from the Prov. E. lever, the yellow flag or rush, A.S. laefer. After the partial conquest of Ireland by Strongbow, earl of Pembroke, under Henry II., the principal ports of communication were Bristol for the south and Chester for the north. The gradual silting up of the river Dee soon so obstructed the navigation as to render Chester unsuitable. A quay was then constructed at Shotwick, about 8 m. below Chester, with a castle to protect it from the incursions of the neighbouring Welsh; but a better site was sought and soon found. Into the tidal waters of the Mersey a small stream, fed by a peat moss on the elevated land to the eastward, ran from north-east to south-west, forming at its mouth an open pool or sea lake, of which many existed on both sides of the river. The triangular piece of land thus separated formed a promontory of red sandstone rock, rising in the centre about 50 ft. above the sea-level, sloping on three sides to the water. The pool was admirably adapted as a harbour for the vessels of that period, being well protected, and the tide rising from 15 to 21 ft. King John repurchased the manor from Henry Fitzwarine, giving him other lands in exchange. Here he founded a borough, and by letters patent dated at Winchester, 28th of August 1207, invited his subjects to take up burgages.
From the patent rolls and the sheriff's accounts it appears that considerable use was made of Liverpool in the 13th century for shipping stores and reinforcements to Ireland and Wales.
In 1229 a charter was granted by Henry III., authorizing the formation of a merchants' gild, with hanse and other liberties and free customs, with freedom from toll throughout the kingdom. Charters were subsequently granted by successive monarchs down to the reign of William and Mary, which last was the governing charter to the date of the Municipal Reform Act (1835). In 1880 when the diocese of Liverpool was created, the borough was transformed into a city by royal charter.
The crown revenues from the burgage rents and the royal customs were leased in fee-farm from time to time, sometimes to the corporation, at other times to private persons. The first lease was from Henry III., in 1229, at Do per annum. In the same year the borough, with all its appurtenances, was bestowed with other lands on Ranulf, earl of Chester, from whom it passed to his brother-in-law William de Ferrers, earl of Derby, who seems to have built Liverpool castle between 1232 and 1237. His grandson, Robert de Ferrers, was implicated in the rising of Simon de Montfort and his lands were confiscated in 1266 when Liverpool passed into the hands of Edmund, earl of Lancaster. Ultimately Liverpool again became the property of the crown, when Henry IV. inherited it from his father John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. In 1628 Charles I., in great straits for means which were refused by parliament, offered for sale about a thousand manors, among which Liverpool was included. The portion containing Liverpool was purchased by certain merchants of London, who, in 1635, reconveyed the crown rights, including the fee-farm rent of £14, 6s. 8d., to Sir Richard Molyneux, then recently created Viscount Molyneux of Maryborough, for the sum of £450. In 1672 all these rights and interests were acquired by the corporation.
Apart from the national objects for which Liverpool was founded, its trade developed slowly. From £z0 per annum, in the beginning of the 13th century, the crown revenues had increased towards the end of the 14th century, to £38; but then they underwent a decline. The black death passed over Liverpool about 1360, and carried off a large part of the population. The Wars of the Roses in the 15th century unsettled the north-western districts and retarded progress for at least a century. The crown revenues diminished from £38 to less than half that sum, and were finally leased at £14, 6s. 8d., at which they continued until the sale by Charles I. It is, however, not safe to conclude that the reduced fee-farm rent represents an equivalent decline in prosperity; the privileges conferred by the various leases differed widely and may account for much of the apparent discrepancy.
Liverpool sent no representatives to Simon de Montfort's parliament in 1264, but to the first royal parliament, summoned in 1295, the borough sent two members, and again in 1307.
The writs of summons were then suspended for two centuries and a half. In 1547 Liverpool resumed the privilege of returning members. In 1588 the borough was represented by Francis Bacon, the philosopher and statesman. During the Civil War the town was fortified and garrisoned by the parliament. It sustained three sieges, and in 1644 was escaladed and taken by Prince Rupert with considerable slaughter.
The true rise of the commerce of Liverpool dates from the Restoration. Down to that period its population had been either stationary or retrogressive, probably never exceeding about moo. Its trade was chiefly with Ireland, France and Spain, exporting fish and wool to the continent, and importing wines, iron and other commodities. The rise of the manufacturing industry of south Lancashire, and the opening of the American and West Indian trade, gave the first impulse to the progress which has since continued. By the end of the century the population had increased to 5000. In 1699 the borough was constituted a parish distinct from Walton, to which it had previously appertained. In 1709, the small existing harbour being found insufficient to accommodate the shipping, several schemes were propounded for its enlargement, which resulted in the construction of a wet dock closed with flood-gates impounding the water, so as to keep the vessels floating during the recess of the tide. This dock was the first of its kind. The name of the engineer was Thomas Steers.
About this date the merchants of Liverpool entered upon the slave trade, into which they were led by their connexion with the West Indies. In 1709 a single vessel of 30 tons burden made a venture from Liverpool and carried fifteen slaves across the Atlantic. In 1730, encouraged by parliament, Liverpool went heartily into the new trade. In 1751, fifty-three ships sailed from Liverpool for Africa, of 5334 tons in the aggregate. The ships sailed first to the west coast of Africa, where they shipped the slaves, and thence to the West India Islands, where the slaves were sold and the proceeds brought home in cargoes of sugar and rum. In 1765 the number of Liverpool slavers had increased to eighty-six, carrying 24,200 slaves. By the end of the century five-sixths of the African trade centred in Liverpool. Just before its abolition in 1807 the number of Liverpool ships engaged in the traffic was 185, carrying 49,213 slaves in the year.
Another branch of maritime enterprise which attracted the attention of the merchants of Liverpool was privateering, which, during the latter half of the 18th century, was a favourite investment. After the outbreak of the Seven Years' War with France and Spain, in 1756, the commerce of Liverpool suffered severely, the French having overrun the narrow seas with privateers, and the premiums for insurance against sea risks rose to an amount almost prohibitive. The Liverpool merchants took a lesson from the enemy, and armed and sent out their ships as privateers. Some of the early expeditions proving very successful, almost the whole community rushed into privateering, with results of a very chequered character. When the War of Independence broke out in 1775 American privateers swarmed about the West India Islands, and crossing the Atlantic intercepted British commerce in the narrow seas. The Liverpool merchants again turned their attention to retaliation. Between August 1778 and April 1779, 120 privateers were fitted out in Liverpool, carrying 1986 guns and 8745 men.
See W. Enfield, Hist. of Leverpool (1773); J. Aikin, Forty Miles round Manchester (1795); T. Troughton, Hist. of Liverpool (1810); M. Gregson, Portfolio of Fragments relating to Hist. of Lancashire (1817) H. Smithers, Liverpool, its Commerce, &c. (1825); R. Syers, Hist. of Everton (1830); E. Baines, Hist. of County Palatine of Lancaster, vol. iv. (1836); T. Baines, Hist. of Commerce and Town of Liverpool (1852); R. Brooke, Liverpool during the last quarter of 18th Century (1853); J. A. Picton, Memorials of Liverpool (2 vols., 1873); Ramsay Muir and Edith M. Platt, A History of Municipal Government in Liverpool (1906); Ramsay Muir, A History of Liverpool (1907). (W. F. I.)
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