Liverpool Cathedral

Liverpool Cathedral is the Anglican cathedral of Liverpool, England; it is built on St James Mount, in the centre of the city. It is the largest Anglican cathedral in the world, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool; it is not to be confused with the Roman Catholic Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

Construction

John Charles Ryle was installed as the first Bishop of Liverpool in 1880, but the diocese had no cathedral, merely a "pro-cathedral" in the rather ordinary parish church of Saint Peter's, Liverpool. Following much debate, church and civic leaders agreed a new cathedral should be built and in 1902 held an open competition to select a design. For architects, this was a very significant event; not only was it to be one of the largest building projects of the 20th century, but this was only the second opportunity to build a cathedral in England following the Reformation of the 16th century.

The competition attracted over 100 entries including designs from noted architects such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Charles Reilly. In 1903 the assessors, Norman Shaw and George Bodley, selected a proposal submitted by the 22-year-old student Giles Gilbert Scott despite the fact that he had no previous buildings to his credit. The choice of winner was even more contentious with the cathedral committee when it was discovered that Scott was in fact a Roman Catholic, but since faith wasn't a requirement of the original competition, the decision stood.

The Lady Chapel was the first part of the cathedral to be completed. It is noticeably more elaborate than the rest of the cathedral and retains features of Scott's original Gothic design, whilst also showing the influence of G. F. Bodley.Although young, Scott was steeped in ecclesiastical design and well versed in the Gothic revival style with his grandfather George Gilbert Scott and father both designing numerous churches. Due to Scott's inexperience, the cathedral committee appointed Bodley to oversee the detailed architectural design and building work. Bodley and Scott's collaboration was a stormy one, with Scott verging on resigning before Bodley's death in 1907.

The foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII in 1904, with the first element, the Lady Chapel, opening in 1910. It was at this time that Scott, free of Bodley and growing in confidence, submitted an entirely new design for the remaining (main) part of the structure. Scott's original design was based on Durham Cathedral and had two towers at the west end, the revised plan called for a single central, exceptionally tall tower topped with a lantern. At the same time Scott change the style somewhat, losing much of the gothic detailing and introducing a significantly more modern, monumental style, even incorporating elements from Rennie Mackintosh's competition entry. The cathedral committee approved the new plans, which also made the cathedral's interior much more spacious. With the altar completed, the church was consecrated in 1924, but regular services were not held until 1940. Construction of the tower was finished in 1942, but the Second World War and inflation slowed work and the completion of the building only came in 1978; too late for Scott, who had died in 1960.

Details
 
The interior of the cathedral, looking up in to the vault below the central belltower.Liverpool Cathedral occupies a total area of 9,600 square meters and was built mainly of sandstone quarried from the Liverpool suburb of Woolton. The cathedral's belltower is one of the tallest in the world (see List of tallest churches), rising to a height of 100 metres. It houses the highest (66 metres) and heaviest (31 tonnes) ringing peal of bells in the world. The choir contains one of the largest pipe organs in the UK with two five-manual consoles, 9765 pipes and a trompette militaire. 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 eastern end of the cathedral featuring the high altar and stained glass windowAdmission to the cathedral is free but with a suggested donation of £3. It is open daily year-round from 8 am to 6 pm, and regular services are held every Sunday.

Liverpool not only has the Anglican cathedral, but also a Catholic cathedral — the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, also built in the 20th century, to an even more modern design. Currently there are plans to link the Cathedral to Hope Street via a bridge over St James Mount and Gardens, this will connect to the north porch, which was originally intended as the main entrance and currently contains a refectory.

Liverpool Church of Scotland congregation

The Liverpool St Andrew's congregation of the Church of Scotland uses the Western Rooms of the Cathedral for Sunday services. Until the early 1980s the congregation worshipped in St Andrew's Church, Rodney Street (built in 1823 by the architect John Foster, but now sadly derelict).

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county, located in the North West of England. Merseyside is named after the River Mersey and comprises the conurbation by the Mersey estuary centred upon Liverpool. The county was created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972.

Merseyside contains the metropolitan boroughs of Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and the Wirral. The county is divided into two parts by the Mersey estuary, the Wirral is located on the west side of the estuary, upon the Wirral Peninsula and the rest of the county is located on the east side of the estuary. The northern part of Merseyside borders onto Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, both parts border Cheshire to the south.

The two parts are linked by two road tunnels, a railway tunnel, and the famous Mersey Ferry.

Other districts that are part of the urban area (but not part of Merseyside) are Ellesmere Port and Neston, West Lancashire and Halton, this area is known informally as "Greater Merseyside".

It is traditional to express location within the Merseyside area by the preposition on, thus "on Merseyside" as opposed to "in Merseyside" (after all, one would be "on the side of the Mersey" not "in" it). Current usage seems to be to make a distinction between the geographical "Merseyside" (The "Greater Merseyside" referred to above) for which "on" is appropriate and the county, for which "in" is used.

History and administration

A 'Merseyside' metropolitan area was proposde by the Redcliffe-Maud Report covering south-west Lancashire and north-west Cheshire, extending as far south as Chester and as far north as the River Ribble. This would have included four districts: Southport/Crosby, Liverpool/Bootle, St Helens/Widnes and Wirral/Chester.

The Report was rejected by the incoming Conservative Party government, but the concept of a two-tier metropolitan area based on the Mersey area retained. A White Paper was published in 1971. The Local Government Bill presented to Parliament involved a substantial trimming from the White Paper, excluding the northern and southern fringes of the area, excluding Chester, Ellesmere Port (and, unusually, including Southport, whose council has requested to be included). Further alterations took place in Parliament, with Skelmersdale being removed from the area, and a proposed district including St Helens and Huyton being subdivided into what are now the metropolitan boroughs of St Helens and Knowsley.

Merseyside was created on 1 April 1974 from areas previously part of the administrative counties of Lancashire and Cheshire, along with the county boroughs of Birkenhead, Wallasey, Liverpool, Bootle, and St Helens.

Between 1974 and 1986 the county had a two tier system of local government with the five boroughs sharing power with the Merseyside County Council. However in 1986 the government of Margaret Thatcher abolished the county council along with all other metropolitan county councils, and so its boroughs are now effectively unitary authorities.

Merseyside however still exists legally, and as a ceremonial county.

Despite the abolition of the county council some local services are still run on a county-wide basis, now administered by joint-boards of the five metropolitan boroughs, these include the:

Merseyside Police
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service
Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (who are responsible for public transport including Merseyrail)
Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority

Places of interest
 
Gambier Terrace
Albert Dock
Cavern Club
Croxteth Hall
Speke Hall - National Trust
Mersey Tunnels - Queensway and Kingsway
Tate Liverpool, a branch of the Tate Gallery
Lady Lever Art Gallery
Liverpool Museum
Merseyside Maritime Museum
HM Customs & Excise National Museum
Museum of Liverpool Life
Walker Art Gallery
Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King
Port Sunlight
Leasowe Castle
Bidston Windmill
Leasowe Lighthouse
Hilbre Island
North Wirral Coastal Park
St Helens' World of Glass

Continued existence

Several organisations are still recognised using the old name of "Merseyside". The court service at Liverpool's Magistrate Court for example, registered the domain merseysidemcc.org.uk on 25th March 2000, more than a decade after the Merseyside Council was abolished.