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 culs 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.
Parks.—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 100 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 881½ acres. A boulevard about 1 m. in length, planted with trees in the centre, leads to the entrance of Prince’s Park.
Public Buildings.—Scarcely any of the public buildings date from an earlier period than the 19th 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 law-courts 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, 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 the 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 100 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.