Central Liverpool: The Cathedrals

	The Anglican Cathedral from the South-East No superlative seems sufficient. The cathedral, Britain's largest and the largest Anglican cathedral in the world, is mind-bogglingly vast and seems, Tardis-like, even bigger on the inside. Moreover, these impressions are not dulled by familiarity. Commanding views are to be had from the top of the 331 ft (101 m) tower, which holds the heaviest and highest bells in the world. The interior is as impressive as the exterior. You are left marvelling that such a volume of space could be enclosed by a man-made structure.
	The Anglican Cathedral from the South-West Giles Gilbert Scott, then only 23, won the competition to design an Anglican Cathedral in 1902, the assessors commenting that his entry had 'that power combined with beauty which makes a great and noble building'. The foundation stone was laid in 1904 by King Edward VII to the sound of a thousand voices singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. However, by 1909 Scott had completely revised his design, influenced by the 1902 design of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and he went on revising until 1936. The tower was completed in 1942 and the spectacular nave bridge in 1961, shortly after the architect's death in 1960. Work on the building was not finally completed until 1978, yielding 'one of the truly monumental buildings of our time' (Quentin Hughes). The plateau here on the west side is a good place to appreciate the immensity of the structure.
	The Anglican Cathedral and Hope Street The view from the Metropolitan Cathedral steps gives a good impression of the imposing presence of the Anglican Cathedral as it towers over the buildings of Hope Street. This street links the two cathedrals and is named after William Hope, a merchant who built the first house here on the site now occupied by the Philharmonic Pub. The Pope made much of the word hope in its usual sense on his visit to Liverpool in 1982.
	The Anglican Cathedral Interior This is the view of the interior looking to the north, to the nave bridge and the north window.
	The Anglican Cathedral Interior
	The Anglican Cathedral, Lady Chapel The Lady Chapel was the first part to be completed and is more richly designed than the rest of the cathedral.
	The Anglican Cathedral, North Window
	The Anglican Cathedral, Choir and South Window
	St. James's Cemetery As if to present an opposing perspective to the Anglican Cathedral, St. James's Cemetery, adjoining it to the east and sunken deeply in a disused sandstone quarry, used to be, according to Quentin Hughes writing in the 1960s, 'one of the most powerful and picturesque spectacles in Liverpool, awe-inspiring in its mouldering decay'. It is now a green and pleasant retreat, most of the gravestones and monuments having been relocated around the periphery.
St. James's Cemetery in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) St. James' cemetery, the site of which was given by the corporation, is a large tract of ground originally excavated as a quarry for stone used in building the docks, and converted into a depository for the dead at an expense of £21,000; it contains 44,000 square yards, inclosed by a stone wall and handsome iron palisades, having four stately entrances. The interior is intersected by roads wide enough to admit a carriage, which lead to catacombs excavated in the rock. In the centre is an ornamental building containing a full-length statue of Mr. Huskisson. The oratory, or chapel, built after a design by Mr. Foster, is an elegant edifice in the Grecian style, and of the Doric order; at the west end is a portico of six massive columns supporting a rich entablature, which is carried round the building, and surmounted by a triangular pediment.
	The Oratory and St. James's Cemetery The entrance to St. James's Cemetery at the north end of the cathedral is still creepy - a dark and narrow path descending to the old quarry through a deep cutting and tunnel in the smoke-blackened sandstone rock and lined with gravestones. The Oratory, which once served as the chapel for the cemetery, looks like a miniature Greek temple sitting on its acropolis when viewed from below. It was designed by John Foster Jr, inspired by his travels in Asia Minor, and dates from 1829. It now houses a collection of 19th century sculpture and funeral monuments.
	The Hillsborough Memorial Carved into the Anglican Cathedral plateau, a memorial to the infamous 1989 football stadium tragedy that is still fresh in the minds of so many Liverpudlians. 'You'll never walk alone', from Rogers and Hammerstein's 1945 musical Carousel and made famous locally by Gerry and the Pacemakers' 1963 hit has become the anthem of Liverpool Football Club.
	The Metropolitan Cathedral The Roman Catholic Cathedral, officially called the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, is unofficially known to scousers, these days affectionately if not entirely politically correctly, as Paddy's Wigwam or the Mersey Funnel. It faces down Hope Street in stark contrast to the Anglican Cathedral at the other end. Which is the finer is a frequent topic of debate, but the Catholic Cathedral is certainly a more original concept. It is also staggeringly beautiful inside, in a way that catches the first-time visitor off-guard (see below).
	The Metropolitan Cathedral and Hope Street The cathedral on this site was to have been Edwin Lutyens's vast classically inspired monument, the second largest cathedral in the world, which in turn superceded an earlier uncompleted Gothic design by Edward Welby Pugin in 1853. Work started in 1930 but was stopped by escalating costs and the war with only the crypt completed. A large detailed model of the completed building has recently been restored and can be seen in the Walker Art Gallery. Frederick Gibberd won the 1959 competition to rethink the design and the present building was constructed between 1962 and 1967. It is on a reduced scale but is no miniature, the crown of the lantern towering 290 ft (88 m) above the end of Hope Street. The entrance area has recently been re-developed to great advantage. The crypt can be visited and gives a clue to the immense scale of the original design. It is often used for rather secular events such as beer festivals.
	Interior of the Metropolitan Cathedral Lantern A vast kaleidoscope of changing colours as you walk around. The glass is by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens (cf. Coventry cathedral) , the predominant colours of blue, red and yellow symbolising the Trinity.
	Interior of the Metropolitan Cathedral Sit here among sympathetically modern art-works, with the sun flooding through the intensely coloured glass and listen to the organ in vivid acoustics. It is a deeply affecting experience regardless of your belief or lack of it.
	Metropolitan Cathedral Altar The altar is a single block of white marble from Skopje in Macedonia. Suspended above is the Baldacchino, incorporating lights and speakers.
	Sculpture, Metropolitan Cathedral This fibreglass relief forms one of the sliding doors to the main entrance. The expressionist design by William Mitchell is intended to symbolise the Evangelists but reminded Pevsner of 'the introduction to some cruel Mexican ritual'.