Central Liverpool: The Museum Area

	St. George's Hall In 1839 and 1840, Harvey Lonsdale Elmes won competitions to design both a concert hall and assize courts. The Corporation then wanted the two combined, which was good news for us, who have inherited the present magnificent building, but bad news for poor Elmes, who died in the process of exhaustion and consumption at the age of only 33. St George's Hall is a neoclassical masterpiece, 'one of the greatest [buildings] in England and a monument of world importance' (Quentin Hughes).
St. George's Hall in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) St. George's Hall, and the Courts in which the assizes for the county will be held, form a spacious and magnificent range of building, of which the foundation was laid in 1841; it is in the Grecian style, 500 feet in extreme length, and of very lofty elevation. The east front, 420 feet in length, is embellished with a stately and boldly projecting portico of sixteen columns of the Corinthian order, supporting an enriched entablature and cornice, which surrounds the whole of the building, and affording an entrance by a flight of steps into St. George's Hall, which is in the centre, and the roof of which rises to a considerable elevation above the rest of the structure. This hall is 169 feet in length, 75 feet in width, and 75 feet in height, and during the assizes is open to the public; it communicates at the north and south ends with the assize courts, each of which is 60 feet long, 50 wide, and 45 high. On each side of the portico are façades of square pillars, between the lower portions of which are ornamented screens rising to about onethird of the height. The south front consists of a noble and boldly projecting portico of circular columns of the Corinthian order, rising from a richly-moulded surbase ten feet in height (which surrounds the whole pile), and surmounted by a pediment whose apex has an elevation of ninety-five feet from the ground. The north front, which is semicircular, is also embellished with Corinthian columns; this part of the building contains a concert-room, seventy-two feet in length, and nearly of equal breadth. The edifice, in addition to the principal divisions, contains the vice-chancellor's court, the sheriff's-jury court, a grand-jury room, a barristers' library, and other apartments; the whole, for the grandeur of its dimensions, the loftiness of its elevation, and the elegance of its style, forming one of the most sumptuous and magnificent structures in the kingdom. The estimated cost of the building is £153,000, exclusive of the site: architect, the late Mr. H. L. Elmes; contractor, Mr. John Tomkinson.
	St. George's Plateau The many features of St. George's Plateau include four huge lions (Cockerell 1856), the equestrian bronzes of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (Thornycroft 1866-9) and the dolphin-based cast-iron lamp standards (also by Cockerell). Disraeli (Birch 1883) stands on the steps.
	Wellington's Column Wellington's Column was completed in 1865. The column was designed by Andrew Lawson of Edinburgh and the bronze statue of the Duke, confusingly, by Glaswegian George Anderson Lawson, who also created the relief of the Battle of Waterloo on the south side of the plinth. Together they are 132 ft (40 m) high. The statue is said to be made from melted-down cannons from the battle.
	The County Sessions House from St. George's Hall
	St. George's Hall: The Organ The interior of St. Georges Hall has re-opened to the public following a superb restoration effort and is something no visitor should miss. This is the largest room, the Great Hall, with its organ, but it also possible to visit the Crown Court, Judge's Room, Grand Jury Room and the prisoners' cells below; the latter are atmospheric verging on harrowing. It is also possible to visit the beautiful, circular Small Concert Room as an attendee at one of the many regular chamber concerts now being held there. Charles Dickens recited and Franz Listz performed there in the 19th century. The organ was the biggest in the country until the one in the Royal Albert Hall in London was built in 1871. Two of the original granite columns had to be removed to install the organ and these were relocated to the entrance of Sefton Park.
	St. George's Hall: The Great Hall Thanks to my sister, Evelyn, for this photo.
	St. George's Hall: The Ceiling of the Great Hall
	St. George's Hall: Stained Glass The stained glass at either end of the Main Concert Hall, by Forrest & Son of Liverpool, was added in 1883-4. Here at the south end, appropriately enough, are St. George and the Dragon.
	St. George's Hall: Stained Glass The stained glass at the north end of the Main Concert Hall is inspired by the Liverpool Coat of Arms. I've yet to see a definitve version of the latter - indeed there may not be one, but all versions (including the one on our home page) depict Poseidon (Neptune), god of the sea, on the left and his son and messenger the merman Triton, blowing on a conch shell, on the right. In between there is what looks like a cormorant, above which is definitely a Liver Bird (see the Waterfront page). The motto, from Virgil, reads Deus nobis haec otia fecit, which translates roughly as God has provided this leisure for us. The motto was adapted for Liverpool University as Haec otia studia fovent, or This leisure makes our studies flourish. Not too much leisure though guys, eh? When I was on the staff of the university many moons ago, we employed our leisure to produce a scabrous Alternative Newsletter, whose cover featured a Liver Bird holding a bottle of beer and smoking a joint and the motto Opus onus potanti, or Work: the curse of the drinking classes (pinched from Oscar Wilde, I think). But I digress.
	The Crown Court, St. George's Hall This courtroom still operated as Liverpool's only criminal court until 1984, when the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts were opened in Derby Square
	The Crown Court, St. George's Hall This is the judge's eye view.
	The County Sessions House and Steble Fountain Completed in 1884, the Sessions House has more of renaissance Venice than the Greece and Rome of its neighbours. The interior is set out in a complex manner, designed to keep lawyers, public and prisoners in separated zones. The building now houses offices for National Museums Liverpool - the layout presumably appeals to the senior management. The cast iron Steble Fountain, erected in 1879, was designed by sculptor W. Cunliffe and named after the former mayor Col. R.F. Steeble. Neptune, Amphitrite, Acis and Galatea sit around the base. There are replicas in Boston, Geneva and Launceston (Tasmania).
	The Walker Art Gallery The Walker houses one of the finest art collections in the country. It was designed by H.H Vale in 1873, completed in 1877, enlarged in 1882 by Cornelius Sherlock and again in 1931 by Arnold Thornly. It is named after mayor and brewer Andrew Barclay Walker, who provided the funding. The tone is set on entry by the imposing sculptures of Michelangelo and Raphael by Warrington Wood. On the top is an allegorical figure representing Liverpool holding a traditional trident and a somewhat more progressive ship's propeller.
	The Walker Art Gallery and County Sessions House It is difficult to take in the entire sweep of the magnificent neoclassical buildings on William Brown Street in one go. This is the upper section; further down are, in order, the Picton Reading Room, the William Brown Library, the museum and the museum extension and Central Technical School (now turned over to museum use).
	The Picton Library This section of the Liverpool Central Libraries was designed by Cornelius Sherlock and completed in 1879. It is named after James Picton, then president of the Libraries and Museums Committee. It was unkindly known as Picton's Gasometer when it opened and was the first building in Liverpool to have electric lighting. Its circular shape seems to act as a pivoting joint between the upper and lower parts of the William Brown Street complex. Behind is attached the Hornby Library, opened 1906, designed by Thomas Shelmerdine.
	The Picton Reading Room The impressive interior beneath its vast dome has the atmosphere of a bibliophile's shrine. This was the first building in Liverpool to have electric lighting.
	The William Brown Library and Museum These buildings were originally designed by Thomas Allom, but there was controversy over the cost of the winning scheme. The design was modified by John Weightman and funding issues resolved by wealthy local merchant William Brown. Work was completed in 1860 but the steps are a 1902 feature replacing an elevated terrace. The building was badly bombed in 1941, fortunately leaving the facade intact. It was reconstructed unsympathetically (architects put it more forcefully) in 1957-1969, modifying the skyline above the entrance.
	St. John's Gardens These gardens behind St. George's Hall, a welcome and popular green space in the heart of Liverpool, are laid out formally with flower beds, memorials and statues. The latter, by some of the most famous Victorian sculptors (Frampton, Brock and Pomeroy) constitute one of the major groups of outdoor public monuments of the early twentieth century ('Liverpool's al fresco Valhalla', according to a local newpaper of 1899). The gardens were opened in 1904 and take their name from St. John's Church and churchyard that were previously located here.