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: Bank Street (now Water Street), Castle Street, Chapel Street,
Dale Street, Juggler Street (now High Street), Moor Street (now
Tithebarn Street) and Whiteacre Street (now Old Hall Street).
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.
[8][9] Substantial profits from the
slave trade helped the town to prosper and rapidly grow, although several prominent local men, including
William Rathbone,
William Roscoe and
Edward Rushton, were at the forefront of the abolitionist movement.
In the early 19th century Liverpool played a major role in the
Antarctic sealing industry, in recognition of which
Liverpool Beach in the
South Shetland Islands is named after the city.
[10]
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 late 19th and early 20th centuries, Liverpool was drawing
immigrants from across Europe. This is evident from the diverse array of
religious buildings located across the city, many of which are still in
use today. The
Deutsche Kirche Liverpool,
Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas,
Gustav Adolfus Kyrka,
Princes Road Synagogue and
St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church
were all established in the late 1800s to serve Liverpool's growing
German, Greek, Nordic, Jewish and Polish communities respectively.
20th century
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 were also redeveloped for new homes.
The
Great Depression of the early 1930s saw unemployment in the city peak at around 30%.
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 severe aerial bombing during the war.
Liverpool was the port of registry of the ill fated ocean liner, the
RMS Titanic. The words
Titanic, Liverpool
could be seen on the stern of the ship that sank in April 1912 with the
loss of 1,517 lives (including numerous Liverpudlians). A
Memorial to the Engine Room Heroes of the Titanic is located on the city's waterfront.
Like most British cities and industrialised towns, Liverpool became home to a significant number of
Commonwealth immigrants after World War II, mostly settling in older inner city areas such as
Toxteth. However, a significant
West Indian black community had existed in the city as long ago as the first two decades of the 20th century.
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. By the early 1980s
unemployment rates in Liverpool were once again among the highest in the UK,
[11]
standing at 17% by January 1982 - although this was just over half of
the level of unemployment that was affecting the city in an economic
downturn 50 years previously.
[12]
In recent years, Liverpool's economy has recovered and has
experienced growth rates higher than the national average since the
mid-nineties.
Mathew Street is one of many tourist attractions related to The Beatles, and the location of Europe's largest annual free
music festival.
At the end of the 20th century Liverpool was concentrating on regeneration, a process which still continues today.
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.
21st century
To celebrate the
Golden Jubilee of
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 centred on Paradise Street, which involved the
most significant changes to Liverpool's city centre since the post-war
reconstruction. Renamed 'Liverpool ONE', 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.
Spearheaded by the multi-billion Liverpool ONE development,
regeneration has continued on an unprecedented scale through to the
start of the early 2010s in Liverpool. Some of the most significant
regeneration projects to have taken place in the city include the new
Commercial District,
King's Dock,
Mann Island, the
Lime Street Gateway, the
Baltic Triangle,
RopeWalks and the
Edge Lane Gateway. All projects could however soon be eclipsed by the
Liverpool Waters scheme which if built will cost in the region of £5.5billion and be one of the largest
megaprojects
in the UK's history. Liverpool Waters is a mixed use development which
will contain one of Europe's largest skyscraper clusters. The project
received outline planning permission in 2012, despite fierce opposition
from the likes of
UNESCO who claim it will have a damaging effect on Liverpool's World Heritage status.
Second city of Empire
For periods during the 19th century the wealth of Liverpool exceeded that of London itself,
[13] and Liverpool's
Custom House was the single largest contributor to the British Exchequer.
[14] Liverpool's status can be judged from the fact that it was the only British city ever to have its own
Whitehall office.
[15]
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"
[16]
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, and was the first UK airport to be renamed after an
individual -
John Lennon.
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,
[17] and the pivotal
Battle of the Atlantic being planned, fought and won from Liverpool.
[18]
Inventions and innovations
Railways, transatlantic steamships, municipal trams,
[19] electric trains
[20] were all pioneered in Liverpool as modes of mass transit. In 1829 and 1836 the first
railway tunnels
in the world were constructed under Liverpool. From 1950–51, the
world's first scheduled passenger helicopter service ran between
Liverpool and Cardiff.
[21]
The first
School for the Blind,
[22] Mechanics' Institute,
[23] High School for Girls,
[24][25] council house
[26] and Juvenile Court
[27] were all founded in Liverpool. The
RSPCA,
[28] NSPCC,
[29] Age Concern,
[30] Relate,
Citizen's Advice Bureau[31] 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,
[32] sanitary act,
[33] medical officer for health,
district nurse, slum clearance,
[34] purpose-built ambulance,
[35] X-ray medical diagnosis,
[36] school of tropical medicine, motorised municipal fire-engine,
[37] free school milk and school meals,
[38] cancer research centre,
[39] and
zoonosis research centre
[40] 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.
[41] Orthopaedic surgery was pioneered in Liverpool by
Hugh Owen Thomas,
[42] and modern medical anaesthetics by
Thomas Cecil Gray.
The world's first integrated sewer system was constructed in Liverpool by
James Newlands, appointed the UK's first borough engineer in 1847.
[43][44]
In finance, Liverpool founded the UK's first Underwriters' Association
[45] 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.
[46]
In the arts, Liverpool was home to the first
lending library,
athenaeum society,
arts centre[47] and
public art conservation centre.
[48] Liverpool is also home to the UK's oldest surviving classical orchestra, the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
[49]
In 1864,
Peter Ellis built the world's first iron-framed, curtain-walled office building,
Oriel Chambers, the prototype of the
skyscraper. The UK's first purpose-built department store was Compton House, completed in 1867 for the retailer J.R. Jeffrey;
[50] it was the largest store in the world at the time.
[51]
Between 1862 and 1867, Liverpool held an annual
Grand Olympic Festival. Devised by
John Hulley and Charles Melly, these games were the first to be wholly amateur in nature and international in outlook.
[52][53] The programme of the first modern Olympiad in Athens in 1896 was almost identical to that of the Liverpool Olympics.
[54] In 1865 Hulley co-founded the National Olympian Association in Liverpool, a forerunner of the
British Olympic Association. Its articles of foundation provided the framework for the
International Olympic Charter.
Shipowner Sir
Alfred Lewis Jones introduced the
banana to Great Britain in 1884.
[55]
In 1889, borough engineer
John Alexander Brodie invented the football
goal-net, and was a pioneer in the use of
pre-fabricated
housing. He was also vice-president of the Liverpool Self-Propelled
Traffic Association which was a precursor, and later a constituent
member, of the
Royal Automobile Club. Brodie oversaw the construction of the UK's first
ring road, the UK's first
intercity highway as well as the
Queensway Tunnel, linking Liverpool and
Birkenhead.
Described as "the eighth wonder of the world", at the time of its
construction it was the longest underwater tunnel in the world, a title
it held for 24 years.
In 1897, the
Lumière brothers filmed Liverpool,
[56] including what is believed to be the world's first
tracking shot,
[57] 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 20th century:
Meccano,
Hornby Model Railways and
Dinky Toys.
The
British Interplanetary Society,
founded in Liverpool in 1933 by Phillip Ellaby Cleator, is the world's
oldest existing organization devoted to the promotion of spaceflight,
and its
journal the longest running astronautical publication in the world.
[58]
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."
[59]
Government
Liverpool has three tiers of government; the Mayor and 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.
Mayor and local council
The City of Liverpool is governed by the
Directly elected mayor of Liverpool and
Liverpool City Council, and is one of five metropolitan boroughs that combine to make up the
metropolitan county of
Merseyside.
The Mayor is elected by the citizens of Liverpool every four years and
is responsible for the day to day running of the council. The council's
90 elected
councillors
who represent local communities throughout the city, are responsible
for scrutininsing the Mayor's decisions, setting the Budget, and policy
framework of the city. The Mayor's responsibility is to be a powerful
voice for the city both nationally and internationally, to lead, build
investor confidence, and to direct resources to economic priorities.
[60] The Mayor also exchanges direct dialogue with government ministers and the
Prime minister
through his seat at the 'Cabinet of Mayors'. Discussions include
pressing decision makers in the government on local issues as well as
building relationships with the other
Directly elected mayors in England and Wales.
[61] The current Mayor is
Joe Anderson.
The city of Liverpool effectively has two Mayors. As well as the
directly elected Mayor, there is the ceremonial 'Lord Mayor' (or civic
Mayor) who is elected by the full city council at its annual general
meeting in May, and stands for one year in office. The Lord Mayor acts
as the 'first citizen' of Liverpool and is responsible for promoting the
city, supporting local charities and community groups as well as
representing the city at civic events.
[62] The current
Lord Mayor is Councillor Frank Prendergast.
[63]
For local elections the city is split into 30 local council wards,
[64] which in alphabetical order are:
During the most recent local elections,
held in May 2011, the
Labour Party
consolidated its control of Liverpool City Council, following on from
regaining power for the first time in 12 years, during the
previous elections in May 2010.
[65] The Labour Party gained 11 seats during the election, taking their total to 62 seats, compared with the 22 held by the
Liberal Democrats. Of the remaining seats the
Liberal Party won three and
the Green Party claimed two. The
Conservative Party, one of the three major political parties in the UK had no representation on Liverpool City Council.
[65][66]
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 council's poor handling of tax-payer money, including
the accumulation of a £20m shortfall on Capital of Culture funding.
[67]
While Liverpool through most of the 19th and early 20th Century was a
municipal stronghold of Toryism, support for the Conservative Party
recently has been among the lowest in any part of Britain, particularly
since the
monetarist economic policies of prime minister
Margaret Thatcher after her
1979 general election victory contributed to high unemployment in the city which did not begin to fall for many years.
[68]
Liverpool is one of the Labour Party's key strongholds; however the
city has seen hard times under Labour governments as well, particularly
in the
Winter of Discontent
(late 1978 and early 1979) when Liverpool suffered public sector
strikes along with the rest of the United Kingdom but also suffered the
particularly humiliating misfortune of having grave-diggers going on
strike, leaving the dead unburied.
[69]
Parliamentary constituencies and MPs
Liverpool has four
parliamentary constituencies entirely within the city, through which
Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected to represent the city in
Westminster:
Liverpool Riverside,
Liverpool Walton,
Liverpool Wavertree and
Liverpool West Derby.
[70] At the
last general election, all were won by Labour with representation being from
Louise Ellman,
Steve Rotheram,
Luciana Berger and
Stephen Twigg respectively. Due to
boundary changes prior to the 2010 election, the
Liverpool Garston constituency was merged with most of
Knowsley South to form the
Garston and Halewood cross-boundary seat. At the most recent election this seat was won by
Maria Eagle of the Labour Party.
[71]
Geography
Liverpool has been described as having "the most splendid setting of any English city."
[72] At
WikiMiniAtlas
53°24′0″N 2°59′0″W / 53.4°N 2.983333°W / 53.4; -2.983333 (53.4, −2.98), 176 miles (283 km) northwest of London, located on the
Liverpool Bay of the
Irish Sea the city of Liverpool is built across a ridge of
sandstone
hills rising up to a height of around 230 feet (70 m) above sea-level
at Everton Hill, which represents the southern boundary of the
West Lancashire Coastal Plain.
The
Mersey Estuary separates Liverpool from
Birkenhead,
Wallasey and the
Kirby[disambiguation needed] sands to the south west. The boundaries of Liverpool are adjacent to
Bootle,
Crosby and
Maghull in south
Sefton to the north, and
Kirkby,
Huyton,
Prescot and
Halewood in
Knowsley to the east.
Climate
Liverpool experiences a
temperate maritime climate,
like much of the British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild
winters. Its coastal location and urban situation means diurnal
temperature ranges are particularly subdued, ranging from an average of
7.0 °C in May to just 3.8 °C during December. Historically, Bidston
Observatory (actually located on the Wirral Peninsula) has provided the
longest and most unbroken weather data for the Merseyside area. More
recently, the Met Office has operated a weather station at Crosby.
The absolute minimum temperature recorded at Bidston was
−12.8 °C (9.0 °F) during January 1881, typically the coldest night of the year should fall to
−4 °C (24.8 °F) (1971–2000 average) However, the variability of the local climate was exposed as the weather station at Crosby fell to
−17.6 °C (0.3 °F)[73] during December 2010.
The absolute maximum temperature recorded at Bidston was
34.5 °C (94.1 °F) in August 1990 - typically the warmest day of the year should reach
27.5 °C (81.5 °F) (1971–2000 average). The absolute maximum at Crosby is
33.5 °C (92.3 °F), recorded in July 2006.
[74]
| [show]Climate data for Bidston Observatory, elevation 7m, Temp averages 1976–2002, Rain and Sun averages 1971–2000, extremes 1867–2002 |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Record high °C (°F) |
14.7
(58.5) |
16.6
(61.9) |
21.2
(70.2) |
25.3
(77.5) |
28.1
(82.6) |
30.7
(87.3) |
31.6
(88.9) |
34.5
(94.1) |
30.4
(86.7) |
24.6
(76.3) |
17.8
(64.0) |
15.8
(60.4) |
34.5
(94.1) |
| Average high °C (°F) |
6.8
(44.2) |
7.2
(45.0) |
9.2
(48.6) |
11.5
(52.7) |
15.3
(59.5) |
17.3
(63.1) |
19.2
(66.6) |
19.3
(66.7) |
16.6
(61.9) |
13.1
(55.6) |
9.6
(49.3) |
7.4
(45.3) |
12.71
(54.87) |
| Average low °C (°F) |
2.6
(36.7) |
2.6
(36.7) |
4.1
(39.4) |
5.4
(41.7) |
8.3
(46.9) |
10.9
(51.6) |
13.1
(55.6) |
13.1
(55.6) |
11.2
(52.2) |
8.5
(47.3) |
5.6
(42.1) |
3.6
(38.5) |
7.42
(45.35) |
| Record low °C (°F) |
−12.8
(9.0) |
−11.3
(11.7) |
−7.5
(18.5) |
−5
(23) |
0.0
(32.0) |
3.4
(38.1) |
6.6
(43.9) |
5.2
(41.4) |
3.7
(38.7) |
−2.9
(26.8) |
−5.3
(22.5) |
−10.7
(12.7) |
−12.8
(9.0) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) |
61.65
(2.4272) |
48.91
(1.9256) |
51.86
(2.0417) |
43.86
(1.7268) |
50.83
(2.0012) |
63.07
(2.4831) |
46.08
(1.8142) |
59.25
(2.3327) |
61.50
(2.4213) |
60.58
(2.385) |
60.34
(2.3756) |
68.82
(2.7094) |
684.37
(26.9437) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours |
56.0 |
70.3 |
105.1 |
154.2 |
207.0 |
191.5 |
197.0 |
175.2 |
132.7 |
97.3 |
65.8 |
46.8 |
1,499.1 |
| Source: National Oceanography Centre [75] |
| [show]Climate data for Liverpool |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Record high °C (°F) |
13
(57) |
15
(59) |
17
(64) |
26
(79) |
27
(82) |
32
(90) |
32
(91) |
33
(93) |
27
(82) |
23
(75) |
16
(61) |
15
(59) |
33
(93) |
| Average high °C (°F) |
6.6
(43.9) |
6.6
(43.9) |
9.4
(48.9) |
11.6
(52.9) |
15.5
(59.9) |
17.7
(63.9) |
20
(68) |
19.4
(66.9) |
16.6
(61.9) |
12.7
(54.9) |
9.4
(48.9) |
7.7
(45.9) |
12.7
(54.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) |
5
(41) |
4
(39) |
7
(45) |
8
(46) |
12
(54) |
14
(57) |
17
(63) |
16
(61) |
14
(57) |
11
(52) |
7
(45) |
6
(43) |
10
(50) |
| Average low °C (°F) |
2.2
(36.0) |
2.2
(36.0) |
3.3
(37.9) |
4.4
(39.9) |
7.2
(45.0) |
10.5
(50.9) |
12.7
(54.9) |
12.2
(54.0) |
10
(50) |
7.2
(45.0) |
4.4
(39.9) |
3.3
(37.9) |
6.6
(43.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) |
−10
(14) |
−7
(19) |
−6
(21) |
−2
(27) |
0
(32) |
0
(32) |
7
(45) |
5
(41) |
0
(32) |
−2
(27) |
−5
(23) |
−13
(9) |
−13
(9) |
| Rainfall mm (inches) |
97
(3.82) |
94
(3.7) |
101
(3.98) |
85
(3.35) |
68
(2.68) |
71
(2.8) |
40
(1.57) |
55
(2.17) |
44
(1.73) |
61
(2.4) |
78
(3.07) |
65
(2.56) |
859
(33.82) |
| Avg. precipitation days |
18 |
15 |
17 |
16 |
15 |
16 |
14 |
15 |
15 |
17 |
18 |
18 |
194 |
| Avg. snowy days |
6 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
22 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours |
62 |
56 |
124 |
150 |
186 |
210 |
186 |
155 |
129 |
93 |
60 |
31 |
1,442 |
Source: [76]
Rainfall:[77][78]
Sunshine:[79] |
Green Liverpool
In 2010 Liverpool City Council and the Primary Care Trust Commissioned
The Mersey Forest to complete A Green Infrastructure Strategy for the City.
[80]
Demography
Population of Liverpool, 1801–2001
Population
At the
2011 UK Census the recorded population of Liverpool was 466,400.
[3] Liverpool's population peaked in 1930s with 846,101 recorded in the 1931 census.
[81]
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.
[82] Between 2001 and 2006 it experienced the ninth largest percentage population loss of any UK
unitary authority.
[83]
The "Liverpool city region", as defined by the Mersey Partnership,
includes Wirral, Warrington, Flintshire, Chester and other areas, and
has a population of around 2 million.
[84] The European Spatial Planning Observation Network defines a Liverpool metropolitan area consisting of the
Merseyside metropolitan county, the borough of
Halton,
Wigan in Greater Manchester, the city of
Chester as well as number of towns in Lancashire and Cheshire including
Ormskirk and
Warrington.
[85] Liverpool and Manchester are sometimes considered as one large polynuclear metropolitan area,
[86][87][88] or
megalopolis.
[89]
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.
[90] 65.1 per cent of the population is of working age.
[90]
Ethnicity
As of June 2009, an estimated 91.0 per cent of Liverpool's population was
White British, 3.0 per cent
Asian or Asian British, 1.9 per cent
Black or Black British, 2.0 per cent
mixed-race and 2.1 per cent Chinese and
other.
[2]
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.
[91]
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.
[92]
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 19th century.
[93] The gateway in
Chinatown, Liverpool is also the largest gateway outside of China. The city is also known for its large
Irish population and its historical
Welsh population.
[94] In 1813, 10 per cent of Liverpool's population was Welsh, leading to the city becoming known as "the capital of North Wales".
[94] 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.
[95] By 1851, more than 20 per cent of the population of Liverpool was Irish.
[96] 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,
[97] but many more Liverpudlians are of Welsh or Irish ancestry. Liverpool is also noted for its large
African-Caribbean,
[98] Ghanaian,
[99] Indian,
[98] Latin American,
[100] Malaysian,
[101] Somali[102] and
Yemeni.
[103] communities which number several thousand each.
Religion
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,
[104] and two Christian cathedrals.
Christ Church, in Buckingham Road, Tuebrook, is a conservative evangelical congregation and is affiliated with the
Evangelical Connexion.
[105] 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.
[106][107]
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.
[108]
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 5,000.
[109]
Liverpool also has an increasing
Hindu community, with a
Mandir on 253
Edge Lane,
Edge Hill, L7 2PH; the Shri Radha Krishna Temple from the Hindu Cultural Organisation, Liverpool based there.
[110] The current Hindu population in Liverpool is about 1147.
[citation needed] Liverpool also has the
Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara based at Wellington Avenue,
Wavertree, L15 0EJ,
[111] and Liverpool's
Bahá'í Centre is located on 3 and 5 Langdale Road, Wavertree, L15 3LA.
[112]
The city had the earliest
mosque in England, and possibly the UK, founded in 1887 by
William Abdullah Quilliam, a lawyer who had converted to
Islam, and set up in a
terraced house on West Derby Road.
[113] The building was used as a house of worship until 1908, when it was sold to the City Council and converted into offices.
[114] Plans have been accepted to re-convert the building where the mosque once stood into a museum.
[115] 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.
Liverpool has a large lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender/transsexual population, as well as the UK's only official '
gay quarter'. Despite cities such as
Manchester and
Brighton being historically more noted for their LGBT communities, Liverpool now has an LGBT comparable per capita to that of
San Francisco.
Economy
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.
[116] 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.
[117]
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.
[117]
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.
[117] Over recent years there has also been significant growth in the
knowledge economy of Liverpool with the establishment of the
Liverpool Knowledge Quarter in sectors such as media and life sciences.
[118] Liverpool's rich architectural base has also helped the city become the second most filmed city in the UK outside of London,
[119] including doubling for Chicago, London, Moscow, New York, Paris and Rome.
[120][121]
Liverpool ONE has helped move the city into the top five retail destinations in the UK
Another important component of Liverpool's economy are the
tourism and
leisure sectors. Liverpool is the 6th most visited city in the United Kingdom
[122] and one of the 100 most visited cities in the world by international tourists.
[123] In 2008, during the city's
European Capital of Culture celebrations, overnight visitors brought £188m into the local economy,
[122] while tourism as a whole is worth approximately £1.3bn a year to Liverpool.
[121] 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.
[124] 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 five retail destinations in the UK.
[125]
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.
[117]
Nonetheless the city remains one of the most important ports in the
United Kingdom, handling over 32.2m tonnes of cargo in 2008.
[126] It is also home to the UK headquarters of many shipping lines including Japanese firm
NYK and Danish firm
Maersk Line.
[127][128] 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.
[129]
Car-manufacturing also takes place in the city at the
Halewood plant where the
Jaguar X-Type and
Land Rover Freelander models are assembled.
Landmarks
Liverpool's history means that there are a considerable variety of
architectural styles found within the city, ranging from 16th century
Tudor buildings to modern-day
contemporary architecture.
[130]
The majority of buildings in the city date from the late-18th century
onwards, the period during which the city grew into one of the foremost
powers in the
British Empire.
[131] There are over
2,500 listed buildings in Liverpool, of which 27 are Grade I listed
[132] and 85 are Grade II* listed.
[133] The city also has a greater number of public sculptures than any other location in the United Kingdom aside from
Westminster[134] and more Georgian houses than the city of
Bath.
[135] This richness of architecture has subsequently seen Liverpool described by
English Heritage, as England's finest Victorian city.
[136]
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.
[137]
Waterfront and docks
The
Albert Dock
contains the UK's largest collection of Grade I listed buildings as
well as being the most visited multi-use attraction outside London
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.
[138] The best-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.
[139] 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. The Albert Dock
currently houses a number of restaurants, bars, shops, two hotels as
well as the
Merseyside Maritime Museum,
International Slavery Museum,
Tate Liverpool and
The Beatles Story. 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
[140] and today stands as the world's largest brick-work building.
[141]
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 19th and early 20th 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.
[142][143][144][145]
In recent years, several areas along Liverpool's waterfront have
undergone significant redevelopment. Amongst the notable recent
developments are the construction of the
Echo Arena Liverpool and BT Convention Centre on
Kings Dock,
Alexandra Tower and
1 Princes Dock on
Princes Dock and Liverpool Marina around
Coburg and
Brunswick Docks.
Commercial District and Cultural Quarter
Victoria Street like many streets in the city centre is lined with dozens of listed building
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'.
[146]
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.
[147] 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.
[148][149] Also on Castle Street is the Grade I listed
Bank of England Building, constructed between 1845 and 1848, as one of only three provincial branches of the national bank.
[148] 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,
[150] which is considered to be one of the earliest
Modernist style buildings ever built.
[151]
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,
[152] is widely regarded as the best example of a neo-classical building anywhere in Europe.
[153]
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 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.
[154] The William Brown Street area has been likened to a modern recreation of the
Roman Forum.
[155]
Other notable landmarks
While the majority of Liverpool's architecture dates from the
mid-18th 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.
[156] 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.
[157] 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.
[158] The oldest building within the city centre is the
Grade I listed Bluecoat Chambers,
[159] which was built between 1717 and 1718. Constructed in British Queen Anne style,
[160][161] the building was influenced in part by the work of
Christopher Wren[162] 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.
[160]
Liverpool Cathedral is regarded as one of the greatest buildings of the twentieth century and is one of the largest church buildings in the world
Liverpool is noted for having two Cathedrals, each of which imposes over the landscape around it.
[163] The
Anglican Cathedral, which was constructed between 1904 and 1978, is the largest Cathedral in Britain
[164] 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
[165] and was described by former British
Poet Laureate,
John Betjeman, as 'one of the great buildings of the world’.
[166] 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.
[167]
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 (170,000 m
2) of land, providing new retail, commercial, residential and leisure space.
[168] 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),
[169] the
Lime Street gateway (work started)
[170] and the highly ambitious
Liverpool Waters (early planning stage).
[171]
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.
[172]
The English Heritage National Register of Historic Parks describes Merseyside's
Victorian Parks as collectively the "most important in the country".
[173]
The city of Liverpool has ten listed parks and cemeteries, including
three Grade II*, more than any other English city apart from London.
[174]
Transport
The Wallasey entrance to the
Kingsway Tunnel. Liverpool's skyline is visible in the background
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.
National and international travel
Road links
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.
[175] 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.
[176] 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.
Rail links
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), while 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),
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.
Port
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 Ferries and
Stena Line. In 2007, a new
cruise terminal was opened in Liverpool, located alongside the
Pier Head in the city centre.
Airport
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
[177] and today offers services to 68 destinations,
[178] including Berlin, Rome, Milan, Paris, Barcelona and Zürich. The airport is primarily served by
low-cost airlines, notably
Ryanair and
Easyjet, although it does provide additional charter services in the summer.
Local travel
The
Merseyrail network has extensive underground sections within the city centre.
Liverpool Central is the UK's busiest underground station outside London
Buses
Local bus services within and around Liverpool are managed by the
Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (more commonly known as Merseytravel)
[179] 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.
[180]
Trains
Liverpool's
local rail network is one of the busiest and most extensive in the country. 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.
The network is predominantly electric, with diesel trains running on
the City Line. The two lines operated by Merseyrail are the busiest
British urban commuter networks outside London, covering 75 miles
(121 km) of track, with an average of 100,000 passenger journeys per
weekday.
[181][182] Services are operated by the
Merseyrail franchise and managed by the
Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. 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 five city centre stations and over 6.5 miles
(10.5 km) of tunnels.
[181]
Mersey Ferry
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.
[183]
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.
[184]
Culture
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.
Music
Liverpool is internationally known for music and is recognised by
Guinness World Records as the
World Capital City of Pop.
[185] Musicians from the city have produced 56 number one singles, more than any other city in the world.
[186][187] Both the most successful
male band and
girl group in global music history have contained Liverpudlian members. 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 the
British Invasion. Many notable musicians of the time originated in the city including
Billy J Kramer,
Cilla Black,
Gerry and 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 Ginsberg to proclaim that the city was "the centre of consciousness of the human universe".
[188] Other musicians from Liverpool include
Billy Fury,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Echo and the Bunnymen,
Frankie Goes to Hollywood,
Frankie Vaughan and more recently
Ladytron,
The Zutons,
Atomic Kitten,
Heidi Range and
Rebecca Ferguson.
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.
[189] The current chief conductor of the orchestra is
Vasily Petrenko.
[190] Sir
Edward Elgar dedicated his famous
Pomp and Circumstance March 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.
The
Mathew Street Festival
is an annual street festival that is one of the most important musical
events in Liverpool's calendar. It is Europe's largest free music event
and takes place every August.
[191] Other well established festivals in the city include
Africa Oyé and
Brazilica which are the UK's largest free African and Brazilian music festivals respectively.
[192][193] The dance music festival
Creamfields was established by the famous Liverpool-based
Cream
clubbing brand which started life as a weekly event at Nation
nightclub. There are numerous music venues located across the city,
however the
Echo Arena is by far the largest. Opened in 2008 the 11,000-seat arena hosted the
MTV Europe Music Awards the same year and since then has held host to world renowned acts such as
Andrea Bocelli,
Beyoncé,
Elton John,
Kanye West,
Kasabian,
The Killers,
Lady Gaga,
Oasis,
Pink,
Rihanna,
UB40.
Visual arts
Liverpool has more galleries and national museums than any other city in the United Kingdom apart from London.
[194] National Museums Liverpool is the only English national collection based wholly outside London.
[195] 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, while the
Walker Art Gallery houses one of the most impressive permanent collections of
Pre-Raphaelite art in the world.
[196] Sudley House contains another major collection of pre 20th century art,
[197] 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 largest display of art by
Audubon outside the US.
[198] A number of 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.
[199] 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].
Literature
Felicia Hemans
(née Browne) was born in Dale Street, Liverpool, in 1793, although she
later moved to Flintshire, in Wales. Her first collection of poetry was
published in Liverpool when she was only 14 years old, catching the
attention of no less a figure than
Percy Bysshe Shelley.
[200] Felicia was born in Liverpool, a granddaughter of the
Venetian consul in that city. Her father's business soon brought the family to
Denbighshire in North
Wales, where she spent her youth. They made their home near Abergele and
St. Asaph (
Flintshire),
and it is clear that she came to regard herself as Welsh by adoption,
later referring to Wales as "Land of my childhood, my home and my dead".
Her first poems, dedicated to the
Prince of Wales, were published in Liverpool in 1808, when she was only fourteen, arousing the interest of no less a person than
Percy Bysshe Shelley, who briefly corresponded with her.
A number of notable authors have visited Liverpool, including
Daniel Defoe,
Washington Irving,
Thomas De Quincey,
Herman Melville,
Nathaniel Hawthorne,
Charles Dickens,
Gerard Manley Hopkins and
Hugh Walpole.
Daniel Defoe, after visiting the city, described it, as "one of the wonders of Britain in his "'Tour through England and Wales
.[201] Herman Melville’s novel
Redburn
deals with the first seagoing voyage of 19 years old Wellingborough
Redburn between New York and Liverpool in 1839. Largely
autobiographical, the middle sections of the book are set in Liverpool
and describe the young merchantman’s wanderings, and his reflections.
[200] Hawthorne was stationed in Liverpool as United States consul between 1853 and 1856.
[202] Charles Dickens visited the city on numerous occasions to give public readings.
[203] Hopkins served as priest at St Francis Xavier Church, Langdale St., Liverpool, between 1879 and 81.
[204] 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.
[205]
Of all the poets who are connected with Liverpool, perhaps the greatest is
Constantine P. Cavafy,
a twentieth century Greek cultural icon, although he was born in
Alexandria. From a wealthy family, his father had business interests in
Egypt, London and Liverpool. After his father’s death, Cavafy’s mother
brought him in 1872 at the age of nine to Liverpool where he spent part
of his childhood being educated. He lived first in Balmoral Road, then
when the family firm crashed, he lived in poorer circumstances in
Huskisson Street. After his father died in 1870, Cavafy and his family
settled for a while in Liverpool. In 1876, his family faced financial
problems due to the Long Depression of 1873, so, by 1877, they had to
move back to Alexandria.
[200]
Her Benny, a novel telling the tragic story of Liverpool street urchins in the 1870s, written by Methodist preacher
Silas K. Hocking, was a best-seller and the first book to sell a million copies in the author's lifetime.
[206]
The writer, docker and political activist George Garrett was born in
Secombe, on the
Wirral Peninsula
in 1896 and was brought up in Liverpool's South end, around Park Road,
the son of a fierce Liverpool–Irish Catholic mother and a staunch
‘Orange’ stevedore father. In the 1920s and 1930s his organisation
within the Seamen’s Vigilance Committees, unemployed demonstrations, and
hunger marches from Liverpool became part of a wider cultural force. He
spoke at reconciliation meetings in sectarian Liverpool, and helped
found the
Unity Theatre in the 1930s as part of the
Popular Front against the rise of fascism, particularly its echoes in the
Spanish Civil War. Garrett died in 1966.
[207]
The novelist and playwright
James Hanley (1897-1985) was born in
Kirkdale, Liverpool, in 1897 (not
Dublin, nor 1901 as he generally implied) to a working-class family.
[208] Hanley grew up close to the docks and much of his early writing is about seamen.
The Furys
(1935) is first in a sequence of five loosely autobiographical novels
about working-class life in Liverpool. James Hanley's brother, novelist
Gerald Hanley (1916–92) was also born in Liverpool (not
County Cork,
Ireland, as he claimed).
[209] While he published a number of novels he also wrote
radio plays for the BBC as well as some film scripts, most notably
The Blue Max (1966).
[210] He was also one of several script writers for a life of
Gandhi (1964).
[211] Novelist
Beryl Bainbridge (1932-2010) was born in Liverpool and raised in nearby
Formby. She was primarily known for her works of
psychological fiction, often set among the English working classes. Bainbridge won the
Whitbread Awards prize for best novel in
1977 and
1996 and was nominated five times for the
Booker Prize.
The Times newspaper named Bainbridge among their list of "The 50 greatest
British writers since 1945".
[212]
J. G. Farrell was born in Liverpool in 1935 but left at the outbreak of war in 1939.
[213] A novelist of
Irish descent, Farrell gained prominence for his historical fiction, most notably his
Empire Trilogy (
Troubles,
The Siege of Krishnapur and
The Singapore Grip), dealing with the political and human consequences of British
colonial rule. However, his career ended when he drowned in Ireland in 1979 at the age of 44.
Helen Forrester was the
pen name of June Bhatia (née Huband) (1919-2011),
[214][215] who was known for her books about her early childhood in Liverpool during the
Great Depression, including
Twopence to Cross the Mersey (1974), as well as several works of fiction. 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 well since it was first being published in 1967.
Liverpool has produced several noted writers of horror fiction, often set on Merseyside -
Ramsey Campbell,
Clive Barker and Peter Atkins among them. A collection of Liverpudlian horror fiction,
Spook City was edited by a Liverpool expatriate, Angus Mackenzie, and introduced by Doug Bradley, also from Liverpool.
[216] Bradley is famed for portraying Barker's creation Pinhead in the
Hellraiser
series of films. Waterstone's Bookshop in Liverpool One hosts an
irregular but frequent celebration of horror fiction, Twisted Tales.
Performing arts
Liverpool also has a history of performing arts, reflected in several annual theatre festivals such as the
Liverpool Shakespeare Festival which takes place inside
Liverpool Cathedral
and in the adjacent historic St James' Gardens every summer, The
Everyword Festival of new theatre writing, the only one of its kind in
the country,
[217] Physical Fest, an international festival of physical theatre, organised by Tmesis,
[218]
the annual festivals run by John Moores University Drama department and
LIPA, and by the number of theatres in the city. These include the
Empire,
Everyman,
Liverpool Playhouse,
Neptune,
Royal Court and
Unity
theatres. The Everyman and Playhouse are now both part of one company,
and both houses produce their own work as well as receiving touring
productions.
[219][220]
The Everyman is due to be rebuilt, with the current building demolished
in 2011 and a new venue on the same site planned for a 2013 opening.
[221]
Nightlife
Liverpool has a thriving and varied nightlife, with the majority of
the city's late night bars, pubs, nightclubs, live music venues and
comedy clubs being located in a number of distinct districts. A 2011
TripAdvisor poll voted Liverpool as having the best nightlife of any UK city, ahead of
Manchester,
Leeds and even
London.
[222] Concert Square, St. Peter's Square and the adjoining Seel, Duke and
Hardman Streets are home to some of Liverpool's largest and most famed nightclubs including
Alma de Cuba,
Blue Angel, Bumper, Chibuku, Heebie Jeebies,
Korova, The Krazyhouse, The Magnet,
Nation (home of the
Cream brand,
and Medication, the UK's largest and longest running weekly student
event), Popworld as well as countless other smaller establishments and
chain bars. Another popular nightlife destination in the city centre is
Mathew Street and the
Gay Quarter, located close to the city's commercial district, this are is famed for
The Cavern Club alongside numerous gay bars including Garlands and G-Bar. The
Albert Dock and
Lark Lane in Aigburth also contain an abundance of bars and late night venues.
Education
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.
[223] Other notable schools include
Liverpool College founded in 1840
Merchant Taylors' School founded in 1620.
[224] 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 and
Liverpool Collegiate School,
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. Liverpool is also home to the
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).
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,
which was formed through the merger of three colleges, the earliest of
which was founded in 1844, gained university status in 2005. It is the
only ecumenical university in Europe.
[225] It is situated on both sides of Taggart Avenue in Childwall and has a second campus in the city centre (the Cornerstone).
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. It
traces it lineage to the Liverpool
Mechanics Institute, opened in 1823, making it by this measure England's third-oldest university.
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
Sport
The
Merseyside Derby is the football match between the two biggest clubs in the city, Liverpool and Everton.
The City of Liverpool is the most successful footballing city in
England. Football is the most popular sport in the city, home to
Everton F.C. and
Liverpool F.C., who between them, the clubs have won 27 English First Division titles, 12
F.A. Cup titles, 10
League Cup titles, 5
European Cup titles, 1
European Cup Winners' Cup title, 3
UEFA Cup titles, and 24
FA Charity Shields. The clubs both compete in the
F.A. Premier League, of which they are founding members, and contest the
Merseyside Derby, dubbed the 'friendly derby' despite there having been more sending-offs in this fixture than any other.
[226] However, unlike many other derbies, it is not rare for families in the city to contain supporters of both clubs.
[227]
Everton F.C. were founded in 1878 and play at
Goodison Park and
Liverpool F.C. were founded in 1892 and play at
Anfield. Many high-profile players have played for the clubs including;
Dixie Dean,
Alan Ball,
Gary Lineker,
Neville Southall,
Paul Gascoigne and
Wayne Rooney for
Everton F.C. and
Kenny Dalglish,
Alan Hansen,
Kevin Keegan,
Ian Rush and
Steven Gerrard for
Liverpool F.C.. Notable managers of the clubs include
Harry Catterick and
Howard Kendall of Everton, and
Bill Shankly and
Bob Paisley of Liverpool. Famous professional footballers from Liverpool include
Peter Reid,
Gary Ablett,
Wayne Rooney,
Steven Gerrard,
Jamie Carragher and
Tony Hibbert.
The City of Liverpool is the only one in England 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.
Boxing
Boxing is massively popular in Liverpool. The city has a proud
heritage and history in the sport and is home to around 22 amateur
boxing clubs, which are responsible for producing many successful
boxers, such as Ike Bradley,
Alan Rudkin,
John Conteh, Andy Holligan,
Paul Smith,
Tony Bellew and
David Price.
The city also boasts a consistently strong amateur contingent which is
highlighted by Liverpool being the most represented city on the
GB Boxing team, as well as at the
2012 London Olympics, the most notable Liverpool amateur fighters include;
George Turpin,
Tony Willis,
Robin Reid and
David Price who have all medalled at the
Olympic Games. Boxing events are usually hosted at the
Echo Arena and
Liverpool Olympia within the city, although the former home of Liverpool boxing was the renowned
Liverpool Stadium.
Horse-Racing
Aintree is home to the world's most famous steeple-chase, the
John Smith's Grand National
which takes place annually in early April. The race meeting attracts
horse owners/ jockeys from around the world to compete in the demanding
4-miles and 30 fence course. There have been many memorable moments of
the Grand National, for instance the 100/1 outsider Foinavon in 1967,
the dominant
Red Rum and
Ginger McCain of the 1970s and
Mon Mome (100/1) who won the 2009 meeting. In 2010, the National became the first horse race to be televised in
high-definition in the UK.
Golf
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
2006. It also hosted the
Walker Cup in 1983.
Other sports
Wavertree Sports Park is home to the Liverpool Harriers athletics club which, over the years has produced such athletes as; JT Rimmer,
Allyn Condon - the only British athlete to compete at both the Summer & Winter Olympics,
Curtis Robb and
Katrina Johnson-Thompson - who represented GB at the
2012 London Olympics in the women's heptathlon. In August 2012, Liverpool-based gymnast,
Beth Tweddle won an Olympic bronze medal in
London 2012 in the uneven bars at her third
Olympic Games,
thus becoming the most decorated British gymnast in history. Park Road
Gymnastics Centre provides training to a high level. Liverpool has
produced several famous swimmers who have gone on to represent their
nation at major championships such as the
Olympic Games. The most notable of which is
Steve Parry who claimed a bronze medal at the
2004 Athens Olympics in the 200m butterfly. Others include Herbert Nickel Haresnape,
Margaret Kelly, Shellagh Ratcliffe and Austin Rawlinson. There is a purpose-built aquatics centre at
Wavertree Sports Park,
which opened in 2008. The City of Liverpool Swimming Club has been
National Speedo League Champions 8 out of the last 11 years.
Calderstones Park, situated in
Allerton in the south of the city, plays host to the annual
Tradition-ICAP Liverpool International tennis tournament, which has saw tennis stars such as
Novak Djokovic,
David Ferrer,
Mardy Fish,
Laura Robson and
Caroline Wozniacki. Liverpool Tennis Development Programme based at Wavertree Tennis Centre is one of the largest in the UK.
Professional
basketball came to the city in 2007 with the entry of Everton Tigers, now known as
Mersey Tigers, into the elite
British Basketball League. The club was originally associated with Everton F.C., and was part of the
Toxteth Tigers youth development programme, which reached over 1,500 young people every year.
[228] The Tigers began play in Britain's top league for the
2007–08 season, playing at the Greenbank Sports Academy before moving into the newly completed
Echo Arena
during that season. After the 2009–10 season, Everton F.C. withdrew
funding from the Tigers, who then changed their name to Mersey Tigers.
Their closest professional rivals are the
Cheshire Jets, based 18 miles (29 km) away in
Chester. 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.
Sports stadia
Liverpool is home to the
Premier League football clubs
Everton and
Liverpool F.C. 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.
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 Stanley Park Stadium,
but this was not progressed by either club.
Liverpool (
pron.: /ˈlɪvərpuːl/) is a city and
metropolitan borough of
Merseyside,
England,
United Kingdom along the eastern side of the
Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a
borough in 1207 and was granted
city status in 1880. It is the fourth
most populous British city, and third most populous in England, with a 2011 population of 466,400
[3] and is at the centre of a wider urban area, the
Liverpool City Region, which has a population of around 2 million people.
[4]
Historically a part of
Lancashire, the urbanisation and expansion of Liverpool were both 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. Liverpool is also well
known for its inventions and innovations, particularly in terms of
infrastructure, transportation and general construction. Railways,
ferries and the skyscraper were all pioneered in the city.
Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as
Liverpudlians but are also colloquially 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.
[5] 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.
Labelled the
World Capital City of Pop by
Guinness World Records, Liverpool has produced a wealth of musical talent since the mid-20th century. The popularity of
The Beatles,
Billy Fury,
Gerry and the Pacemakers and the other groups from the
Merseybeat era, and later bands such as
Echo & the Bunnymen and
Frankie Goes to Hollywood,
contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination; tourism
forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city
celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the
European Capital of Culture title together with
Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.
[6]
Liverpool is noted for its rich architectural heritage and is home to
many buildings regarded as amongst the greatest examples of their
respective styles in the world. Several areas of the city centre were
granted
World Heritage Site status by
UNESCO in 2004. 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.
[7]
Liverpool is also well known for its strong sporting identity. The city is home of two
Premier League football clubs,
Liverpool F.C. and
Everton F.C.. Matches between the two clubs are known as the
Merseyside derby. The world-famous
Grand National also takes places annually at
Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city.
