Streets of Liverpool

When people talk about ‘lost’ Liverpool, it is individual buildings that usually come to mind – such as the Custom House or Sailors’ Home. Their loss is relatively easy to assess in terms of their architectural and historical merits. The Theatre Royal in my last post is one such building but it also illustrates precisely what was possibly an even greater tragedy – the destruction of the mainly Georgian context in which it was a key part. The whole area around St John’s Market, through Williamson Square and across to Queen Square remarkably survived serious war damage. Here were dozens of small businesses, pubs and shops – with very active markets spilling out into the surrounding streets. Their loss – for a soulless 1960s shopping mall – ripped out the character of an area that, had it survived could have been a Covent Garden of the North.
This photograph, taken on the corner of St John’s Lane and Roe Street, gives a small hint of some of the buildings lined up for demolition. (Possibly not the most dramatic photograph but one that has not been published before).

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