Liverpool Cathedral (Liverpool)

Liverpool Cathedral is the Anglican Cathedral built on St. James' Mount in the centre of the city.

Summary Free admission Art and sculpture

Introduction

Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral is the largest cathedral in Britain and the fifth largest in the world.

Liverpool Cathedral occupies a total area of 103,334 square feet and was built mainly of sandstone quarried from the Liverpool suburb of Woolton. The cathedral's belltower is the largest, and also one of the tallest in the world, rising to a height of 331 feet. It houses the highest (219 feet) and heaviest (31 tons) ringing peal of bells in the world. One of the cathedral's stained glass windows shows the artisans who designed and built it — Bodley and Scott are both shown, sitting together.

The Cathedral is open daily from 8.00am to 6.00pm with services on Sunday.

History to the present day

The construction of the Anglican Cathedral began in 1904 to a design by Giles Gilbert Scott, a Victorian designer famous for red telephone boxes and the now defunct Battersea Power Station. Giles Scott came from a family of architects: his grandfather had designed the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, London, and his father, George, was a leading exponent of the Gothic Revival in Britain. Giles Scott was just 21 when his entry won a design competition for Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral, and he can be seen in the bottom left of the Layman's Window, wearing a blue coat. Sadly, he died in 1960 and so did not see the cathedral finally consecrated.