Liverpool Town Hall#History

The first recorded town hall in Liverpool was in 1515 and it was probably a thatched building. and was located in the block bounded by High Street, Dale Street & Exchange Street East. It was replaced in 1673 by a building slightly to the south of the present town hall. This town hall stood on "pillars and arches of hewen stone" and under it was the exchange for merchants and traders to carry out their business.

Building of the present town hall began in 1749 on a site slightly to the north of its predecessor; its foundation stone was laid on 14 September. The architect was John Wood the Elder, who has been described as "one of the outstanding architects of the day".{{Harvnb|Pollard|Pevsner|2006|p=286.}} It was completed and opened in 1754. The ground floor acted as the exchange, and a council room and other offices were on the upper floor. The ground floor had a central courtyard surrounded by Doric colonnades but it was "dark and confined, and the merchants preferred to transact business in the street outside".{{Harvnb|Pollard|Pevsner|2006|p=287.}} Above the building was a large square dome with a cupola. In 1769 the building was provided with a turret clock manufactured by Joseph Finney of Liverpool.{{cite journal |last1=Fairclough |first1=Oliver |title=Joseph Finney of Liverpool |journal=Antiquarian Horology |date=Winter 1976 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=35}}

The town hall was bombarded by striking seamen during the 1775 Liverpool Seamen's Revolt.Hunter, B. (2002), Forgotten Hero - The Life and Times of Edward Rushton, Living History Library. {{ISBN|0-9542077-0-X}}

File:Town Hall Liverpool.png

The very last act of the American Civil War was when Captain Waddell walked up the steps of the town hall in November 1865 with a letter to present to the mayor surrendering his vessel, the CSS Shenandoah, to the British government.{{cite web|title=Surrender of the Shenandoah |url=http://www.whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk/surrender.htm |access-date=1 January 2017 |date=26 June 2015 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626171650/http://www.whenliverpoolwasdixie.org.uk/surrender.htm |archive-date=26 June 2015 |mode=cs2 }}

Improvements began in 1785 with an extension to the north designed by James Wyatt. Buildings close to the west and north sides were demolished, and John Foster prepared plans for the west façade. In 1786 Wood's square dome was demolished and plans were made by Wyatt for a new dome over the central courtyard. In 1795, before the new dome was built, the hall was seriously damaged by a fire. Wyatt's north extension was not significantly damaged, but Wood's original building was gutted. The building was reconstructed and Wyatt's new dome was added. The work was supervised by Foster and completed in 1802. Under the dome the central courtyard was replaced with a hall containing a staircase. In 1811 a portico was added to the south side.{{Harvnb|Pollard|Pevsner|2006|p=288.}} The construction and decoration of the interior was completed by about 1820.

In 1857 a telegraph wire was laid from the Observatory at Waterloo Dock to the Town Hall (at the suggestion of the Director of the Observatory, John Hartnup) with the intention of using 'galvanic current' to transmit a time signal from the 'normal clock' in the observatory to the turret clock in the dome of the Town Hall, so as to ensure that it displayed accurate time.{{cite journal |last1=Hartnup |first1=John |title=On Controlling the Movements of Ordinary Clocks by Galvanic Currents |journal=Report of the Twenty-seventh Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; held at Dublin in August and September 1857 |date=1858 |volume=2 |page=13}} This was achieved through an invention of a Mr R. L. Jones of Chester: by replacing the pendulum bob of the clock with a hollow electro-magnetic coil (in the manner of Bain's electric pendulum) and connecting it to the telegraph wire (which provided a regular pulse of current at one second intervals from the Observatory clock), the two clocks became synchronised; and so 'was seen the curious spectacle of a great clock with works nearly 100 years old keeping time with astronomical accuracy'.{{cite book |title=Chambers's Encyclopaedia, volume V |date=1880 |publisher=W. and R. Chambers |location=London |page=423 |chapter=Horology}} This was the first application of clock network technology to a large public clock; it was later applied to (among others) the clock in the Victoria Tower, and the two were thenceforth heard to strike the hour simultaneously.{{cite journal |title=On Controlling Clocks by Electricity |journal=Report of the Council to the Forty-first Annual General Meeting of the Society |date=8 February 1861 |volume=XXI |issue=4 |page=112}} A new hour-striking clock, by William Rogers of Liverpool, was installed in 1887.{{cite web |last1=Thomas |first1=Darlah |title=Lost Clocks of Liverpool |url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/65283149/lost-clocks-of-liverpool |access-date=21 March 2025}}

In 1881 an attempt to blow up the town hall by the Fenians was aborted. Between 1899 and 1900 the portico on the north face was rebuilt and extended, and the northern extension was enlarged to form a recess in the Council Chamber for the Lord Mayor's chair, this was the work of the borough surveyor Thomas Shelmerdine.{{Harvnb|Pollard|Pevsner|2006|p=289.}} In 1921 a room on the ground floor was made into the Hall of Remembrance to commemorate the military men from Liverpool who died in the First World War.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/hallofremembrance/index.asp | title = Hall of Remembrance | access-date = 24 October 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool }} Part of the building was damaged in the Liverpool Blitz of 1941; this restored after the end of the Second World War.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/history/index.asp | title = Liverpool Town Hall and its history | access-date = 23 October 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool | archive-date = 10 May 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120510194259/http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/history/index.asp | url-status = dead }} Further restoration was carried out between 1993 and 1995. Between 2014 and 2015 the exterior of the building was renovated as part of a £400,000 project. The work included repairing bomb damage from the 1941 Blitz and cleaning the sandstone from the effects of pollution.{{cite web|last1=Graves|first1=Steve|title=Liverpool Town Hall begins to return to its former glory|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpool-town-hall-renovation-work-7191381|website=Liverpool Echo|access-date=1 January 2017|date=29 May 2014|mode=cs2}}

File:Nelson Mounment.JPG monument in the foreground|alt= A Neoclassical building seen end-on. It has two storeys with a central colonnaded portico and the dome can be seen above the roof. In the foreground is an elaborate monument]]

The town hall is built of stone with a slate roof and a lead dome. Its plan consists of a rectangle with a portico extending to the south and Wyatt's rectangular extension to the north. The extension is slightly narrower than the rest of the building, and also has a projecting portico. The building has two storeys and a basement; the stonework of the basement and lower storey is rusticated. The south face, overlooking Castle Street, has nine bays. Its central three bays are occupied by the portico. This has three rounded arches on the ground floor, and four pairs of Corinthian columns in the upper storey surrounding a balcony. The east and west faces also have nine bays in the original part of the building, plus an additional three bays to the north on Wyatt's extension. The middle three bays of the nine original bays project slightly forward and are surmounted by a pediment. The roof of the north face is higher than that of the main building. This face has five bays, with a central portico of three bays. On its first floor are four pairs of Corinthian columns and standing on the roof above these are four statues dating from 1792 by Richard Westmacott;{{Harvnb|Pollard|Pevsner|2006|pp=286–289.}} these statues have been moved from the Irish Houses of Parliament. Above the upper storey windows on all faces are panels containing carvings, some of which relate to Liverpool's foreign trade. The dome stands on a high drum supported on Corinthian columns. Around the base of the dome are four clock faces, each of which is supported by a lion and unicorn. On the summit of the dome is a statue, representing Minerva. It is {{convert|10|ft|m|0}} high and was designed by John Charles Felix Rossi.{{Citation| url = http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Council_government_and_democracy/About_your_council/Town_Hall/index.asp| title = Town Hall| access-date = 24 November 2009| publisher = Liverpool City Council| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091026173953/http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Council_government_and_democracy/About_your_council/Town_Hall/index.asp| archive-date = 26 October 2009| df = dmy-all}}

File:Liverpool Town Hall 3.jpg

The main door in the south face leads to the Vestibule or Entrance Hall. It has a floor of encaustic tiles which include depictions of the arms of Liverpool and the liver bird.{{cite web|url=http://spikesaycheese.weebly.com/town-hall.html|title=Town Hall|publisher=Spike say Cheese|access-date=10 April 2020|mode=cs2}}

[[File:Liverpool Town Hall Encaustic Tiles Liverpool Arms and Moto.jpg|thumb|These encaustic tiles are on the ground floor of Liverpool Town Hall.

The Liverpool Motto is a quotation from Virgil and translates as 'God has given to us this leisure'.]] The room is panelled and on the east side is a large wooden fireplace containing 17th century Flemish carvings. It has a groin-vaulted ceiling, and in the lunettes are murals painted in 1909 by J.H. Amschewitz, depicting events in Liverpool's history; King John creating Liverpool a free port (west wall); Industry and Peace (North Wall); Liverpool the centre of commerce (east wall); Education and Progress (South wall).Pevsner' Pollard (2006), p289 Below these are brass tablets containing the names of the freemen of Liverpool. Also in the entrance hall are bardic chairs from the two Eisteddfods held in the city.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/entrancehall/index.asp | title = Entrance Hall | access-date = 24 October 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100829133333/http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/entrancehall/index.asp | archive-date = 29 August 2010 | df = dmy-all }}

File:Town Hall Liverpool council chamber.jpgAt the rear of the ground floor in Wyatt's extension is the Council Chamber. This has mahogany-panelled walls and can seat 160 people.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/councilchamber/index.asp | title = Council Chamber | access-date = 24 October 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100829133328/http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/councilchamber/index.asp | archive-date = 29 August 2010 | df = dmy-all }} Adjacent to the Council Chamber is the Hall of Remembrance. On its wall are panels bearing the names of the military men who lost their lives in the First World War, and eight murals painted by Frank O. Salisbury in 1923.

In the centre of the ground floor is the Staircase Hall described in the Buildings of England series as "one of the great architectural spaces of Liverpool". A broad staircase rises between two pairs of Corinthian columns to a half-landing, and narrower flights climb from that on each side to the upper floor. On the ground floor on each side of the staircase are display cabinets holding the city's silver. On the half-landing is a statue of George Canning dated 1832 by Francis Chantrey, and hanging on the wall above this is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Sir Edward Halliday.

File:Liverpool-townhall-dome-int.jpgAbove the staircase the dome is carried by four pendentives; it rises to a height of {{convert|106|ft|m|0}} and its interior is coffered. Around the base of the dome is inscribed Liverpool's motto, "Deus Nobis Haec Otia Fecit", and in the pendentives are paintings dated 1902 by Charles Wellington Furse depicting scenes of dock labour.{{Harvnb|Pollard|Pevsner|2006|pp=289–290.}}{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/staircase/index.asp | title = The Staircase | access-date = 24 October 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120803150605/http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/staircase/index.asp | archive-date = 3 August 2012 | df = dmy-all }}

All the rooms on this floor are designed for entertainment and they have connecting doors that allow for a complete circuit of the floor. The middle room on the south side of the building is the Central Reception Room. It has a circular ceiling with pendentives, and plasterwork in neoclassical style designed by Francesco Bernasconi.{{Harvnb|Pollard|Pevsner|2006|p=290.}} The room leads to the balcony overlooking Castle Street.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/westreception/index.asp | title = Reception Rooms | access-date = 26 October 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20070626022002/http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/westreception/index.asp | archive-date = 26 June 2007 | df = dmy-all }} A door to the right leads to the West Reception Room, with a segmented-vaulted ceiling; it contains a marble chimneypiece with brass and cast iron fittings. This room leads to the Dining Room which occupies the west side of the building. It has been described as "the most sumptuous room in the building". Around the room are Corinthian pilasters. The plaster ceiling has moulded compartments and under these is a frieze decorated with scrolls, urns and crouching dogs. The roundels between the capitals of the pilasters contain paintings of pairs of cupids.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/diningroom/index.asp | title = Dining Room | access-date = 1 November 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080823231200/http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/diningroom/index.asp | archive-date = 23 August 2008 | df = dmy-all }}

The next room on the circuit is a small room which leads into the Large Ballroom. This occupies the whole of Wyatt's north extension and measures {{convert|89|ft|m|0}} by {{convert|42|ft|m|0}}; the ceiling is {{convert|40|ft|m|0}} high. Around the room are Corinthian pilasters and on each of the shorter walls is a massive mirror. In the south wall is a niche for musicians, over which is a coffered semi-dome; on each side of this is a white marble chimneypiece.{{Harvnb|Pollard|Pevsner|2006|pp=290–291.}}{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/largeballroom/index.asp | title = Large Ballroom | access-date = 1 November 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121223175249/http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/largeballroom/index.asp | archive-date = 23 December 2012 | df = dmy-all }} Hanging from the ceiling are "three of the finest Georgian chandeliers in Europe"; each is {{convert|28|ft|m|0}} high, contains 20,000 pieces of cut glass crystal, and weighs over one ton. They were made in Staffordshire in 1820. The floor is a maple sprung dance floor. Most of the east side of the hall is occupied by the Small Ballroom, also known as the East Reception Room or Music Room. This room is surrounded by pilasters and at each end is a shallow apse; the apse in the north wall has two niches for musicians. Suspended from the ceiling are three 19th century chandeliers.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/smallballroom/index.asp | title = Small Ballroom | access-date = 1 November 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070626115946/http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/rooms/smallballroom/index.asp | archive-date = 26 June 2007 | df = dmy-all }} Completing the circuit is the East Reception Room, similar in style to the West Reception Room. The rooms contain a number of portraits; one of these is of James Maury, America's first consul.{{Citation|url=http://www.usembassy.org.uk/culture/cultural_connections_liverpool.html |title=Cultural Connections: Liverpool |access-date=2 November 2009 |publisher=Embassy of the United States |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821123225/http://www.usembassy.org.uk/culture/cultural_connections_liverpool.html |archive-date=21 August 2008 }}

Liverpool City Council meets every seven weeks in the council chamber to conduct the business of the city. The town hall is open to the general public each month when conducted tours take place.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/opendays/index.asp | title = Open days and tours | access-date = 1 November 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool | archive-date = 13 February 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100213000017/http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/opendays/index.asp | url-status = dead }} The hall is licensed for weddings and, in addition to providing a venue for the ceremony, catering facilities can be supplied for a reception or a meal.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/weddings/index.asp | title = Weddings | access-date = 1 November 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool }} Catering is also available for other events and functions.{{Citation | url = http://www.civichalls.liverpool.gov.uk/townhall/functions/index.asp | title = Functions| access-date = 1 November 2009 | publisher = City of Liverpool }} Council officers and their departments are based in the nearby Cunard Building.{{cite web|url=https://liverpool.gov.uk/business/licences-and-permits/entertainment-and-alcohol-licences/responsible-authorities/|title=Licensing: Responsible authorities|publisher=Liverpool City Council|access-date=28 October 2021}}

Immediately to the north of the town hall is a paved square known as Exchange Flags; this is surrounded on all sides by modern office buildings. In the square is the Nelson Monument, celebrating the achievements of Horatio Nelson. It is a Grade II* listed building and is the earliest surviving public monument in the city.{{NHLE |num= 1068235|desc= Nelson Monument, Exchange Flags, Liverpool|access-date= 20 August 2013|mode=cs2|fewer-links=yes}}

File:Liverpool Town Hall 1907.PNG|Liverpool Town Hall in 1907, looking down Water Street, painting by J. Hamilton Hay

File:Town Hall Liverpool dome.jpg|Dome with statue of Britannia

File:Liverpool Exchange 1847.jpg|Liverpool Exchange and its members, 1847

File:Liverpool Town Hall 1.jpg|Entrance Hall

File:Liverpool Town Hall Encaustic Tiles Liver Bird.jpg|These encaustic tiles are on the ground floor of Liverpool Town Hall

File:Liverpool Town Hall 003.jpg|Encaustic tiles in the Entrance Hall

File:Liverpool Town Hall, Hall of Remembrance, 16 April 2013 (5).jpg|Hall of Remembrance

File:Liverpool Town Hall, Hall of Remembrance 2.jpg|Hall of Remembrance

File:Liverpool Town Hall, Gents Toilets 16 April 2013.jpg|Gents toilets

File:Liverpool Town Hall 4.jpg|Statue of George Canning 1832 by Francis Leggatt Chantrey

File:Liverpool Town Hall 15.jpg|Central Reception Room

File:Liverpool Town Hall 12.jpg|Niche in Central Reception Room

File:Liverpool Town Hall 7.jpg|Small Ballroom

File:Liverpool Town Hall 010.jpg|Large Ballroom

File:Liverpool Town Hall 009.jpg|Orchestra balcony, Large Ballroom

File:Liverpool Town Hall 10.jpg|Dining Room

File:Liverpool Town Hall 11.jpg|Urn in the Dining Room

• List of Freemen of the City of Liverpool
• Architecture of Liverpool

Citations

{{Reflist|30em}}

Sources

{{refbegin}}

• {{Citation | last =Pollard| first =Richard | last2 = Pevsner | first2 = Nikolaus | author2-link =Nikolaus Pevsner| series= The Buildings of England|title =Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West | publisher =Yale University Press | year =2006 | location =New Haven and London | isbn =0-300-10910-5 }}

{{refend}}

{{commons category inline}}

• [http://www.virtualtours360.net/vtupload/liverpool/townhall/townhall.html Virtual Tour of Liverpool Town Hall]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/panoramas/council_ballroom_360.shtml Ballroom]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/panoramas/council_chamber_360.shtml Council Chamber]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110519015319/http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/rooftopday/images/image009.jpg Rooftop Image from Liverpool Pictorial]

{{Liverpool B&S}}

Town Hall

Category:Liverpool City Council

Category:Grade I listed government buildings

Category:City and town halls in Merseyside

Category:Domes in the United Kingdom

Category:Government buildings completed in 1754

Category:Government buildings completed in 1802

Category:Government buildings with domes

Category:Tourist attractions in Liverpool

Category:Georgian architecture in England

Category:1754 establishments in England