- 01 LIVERPOOL | The Oratory, and former Mortuary Chapel to St James Cemetery
St James Cemetery is set on the floor of a narrow and deep stone quarry worked out by the early years of the nineteenth century. It was used for burials between 1825 and 1936. Architect John Foster designed the Oratory, a lodge, a monumental entrance arch to carriage ramps and catacombs set against its long eastern side. The Oratory porticos have six Doric columns and daylight to the interior is from above. Begun in 1827, completed in 1829 and restored in 1981 it’s now Grade 1 listed.
- 02 LIVERPOOL | The northern quarry wall footpath to St James Cemetery
The main entrance built for carriages is at the southern end of the site, spanned by a substantial arch. This footway cut through a bedrock tunnel is at the northern end. The rock face to the west underpins the grand structure of the Anglican Cathedral based on designs by Giles Gilbert Scott begun in 1904 and completed in 1978. This quite dramatic walk is flanked by gravestones relocated from the burial ground in the heart of the quarry.
- 03 LIVERPOOL | Detail from an oak door on the western façade of the Anglican Cathedral
The Anglican Cathedral is the largest in the country and its grand forms stand high above the city. Three photographs of the Elizabeth Frink sculpture above its entrance are in the Liverpool Sculpture gallery. The patterns and colours on this oak side door appealed.
- 04 LIVERPOOL | Rust and painted number on a steel door, Dickson Street
A small steel door into a semi-derelict building attracted attention as I walked past: the rust brushstrokes perhaps originated as paint in better times. I liked the rich reds, the fine textures to the metal and the changing tones of the yellow numbering. Abstract painting connections suggested themselves.
- 05 LIVERPOOL | Rust and decay to hanging industrial doors on Dickson Street
I suppose that this is a familiar theme in a fair number of the photographs posted on TJI. It’s one of two interpretations of the doors, the other showing both doors framed by the brickwork of their building. I must have been very keen to record it as I asked for a car to be moved to clear the view.
- 06 LIVERPOOL | Posters fade on the Great Howard Street gates to the Tobacco Warehouse
More recent online images of these gates show them stripped of the poster boards, cleaned up and finished in grey primer paint. They guard the Great Howard Street entrance to the Tobacco Warehouse on Stanley Dock. Derelict for some time, its conversion into some 500+ stylish apartments is now underway. Design studies and photographs suggest that it could be an interesting design experience for buyers.
- 07 LIVERPOOL | Poster on a Great George Street barrier fence
Walking from the waterfront to the Anglican Cathedral I passed a very long board fence to a demolition on Great George Street. Covered with a great variety of paper imagery it was a ribbon of colour camouflaging the dereliction beyond. As well as the dragon composition, the red and blue colour juxtaposition of two of them fronted by the green of a street tree appealed.
- 08 LIVERPOOL | Gravestones in St James’ Cemetery 1
Financed by public subscription and operated by Trustees, the St James’ Cemetery was consecrated in 1829. A major structure was the eastern wall with catacombs and carriage ramps down to the quarry floor. Acquired by Liverpool Corporation after closure for burials in 1936 it was poorly maintained and overgrown to the point where drastic action was taken in the early 1960s. Memorials were largely removed and simple headstones placed along the sides and tunnel walkway (Images 01 & 02).
- 09 LIVERPOOL | Gravestones in St James Cemetery 2
Much of the grandeur and atmosphere evident in early photographs has gone. The Friends of St James’ Garden was established in 2001 and have done much to reclaim and maintain the remains as a park. This pair of headstones rest against the soot grimed tooled stone of the quarry face. What happened to "Captain Charles H Webb of the barque St Lawrence of New York US who died 25th January 1856 aged years"? The Eye and the Compass and Square are Masonic symbols.
- 10 LIVERPOOL | A fragment of railway track in stone setts
Relics like this and longer lengths too can be seen in the abandoned dock areas. This fragment led into the Stanley Dock quays where the monumental 14 storey Tobacco Warehouse stands. Completed in 1901 it’s thought to be the world’s largest brick warehouse: images of it may eventually be added in a "Docks" gallery.
- 11 LIVERPOOOL | "Stanley Dock 1845" on Regent Road
"Stanley Dock 1845" is incised into a stone block set into now weathered brickwork at one of the dock’s two entrances from Regent Road. A four-lock staircase connects it with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal begun in 1770 and completed in phases over the following fifty years. Stanley Dock is set back from the River Mersey and linked to it by the Collingwood Dock.
- 12 LIVERPOOL | A drinking fountain on Regent Road
This is a defunct drinking fountain set into the wall fronting abandoned and cleared docks.
- 13 LIVERPOOL | Goods access doors in a warehouse on Porter Street
A vertical stack of floor by floor access doors is not an uncommon feature of port warehouses from the past: a crane jib was set above. In one building, two of the lower metal doors are recorded in interesting decay. In other dock buildings converted to apartment they’ve been replaced by windows.
- 14 LIVERPOOL | Stacked access doors on Regent Street
Nearby, six tiers of doors access another warehouse.
- 15 LIVERPOOL | Imminent demolition on Waterloo Road
I rather liked the rectangular geometry of this building’s façade. Nothing indicated ownership or function but the extensive glazing could suggest a well-lit engineering workshop. The roof was being removed and the rest of it would soon follow. In a different setting it might have offered interesting possibilities for conversion.
- 16 LIVERPOOL | Dereliction on Waterloo Road
This building was in a precarious state and since taking this photograph the top floor, its parapet, and the roof timbers have imploded. I think that the six-columned ground floor framing was cast metal but can’t be certain. It’s much taller than suggested here as a parked car obscured its lower section. The layout and function of the upper façade openings intrigue.
- 17 LIVERPOOL | William Huskisson Monument in St James Cemetery
The 31 miles long Liverpool & Manchester Railway was officially opened on 15 September 1830 with local MP William Huskisson as a principal guest. Long in planning, the project surmounted engineering problems such as laying tracks across the seemingly bottomless bog landscape of Chat Moss. Pioneering Tyneside rail engineer George Stephenson designed the double- tracked route for steam operation with "Rocket" as its first locomotive and with people carrying very much in mind.
- 18 LIVERPOOL | Huskisson Monument detail
William Huskisson was travelling in one of the trains operating on that great day. At a water stop he and others left their coaches to stand between the two lines of rail. Struck by "Rocket" hauling a train travelling in the opposite direction he was fatally injured. This and Image 17 taken from the carriage ramp show the upper half of the Greek Revival monument erected in the then very new St James’ Cemetery in 1836. A smaller, simpler, classically styled monument stands at the nearby accident site.