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| The Custom House and Post Office 1854 |
Following the closure of the Old Dock on the 31st of August 1826, plans were made for the construction of what was to be Liverpool's fifth Custom house on the site, which was filled in with concrete prior to construction. On the 12th of August 1828 with great ceremony, and, presumably, because that date was also the King's birthday, there was a procession through the streets. After the mayor, Thomas Colley Porter, laid the foundation stone, there were boat races and a firework display. Liverpool had sacrificed the Old Dock, the world’s first commercial wet dock, to make way for the Custom House mainly because it was then considered to be too small and the quays too narrow. This new Custom House, the port's fifth, and some say the city's Fourth Grace, was designed by the town's leading architect John Foster Junior who would later go on to design The Oratory and St. James Cemetery. The giant domed sandstone structure took 11 years to build and was located parallel to the shoreline and originally housed the excise, dock and post offices. It was built in a giant H shape, with columnated facades facing Canning Dock and the streets around. The main function of the Custom House was to collect tolls and excise duties, very important elements in the running of the port. Since the prosperity of Liverpool at this period depended almost entirely on its overseas trade, and all its shipping had to be cleared through the Custom House, this building, in its many expansions and alterations, was a tangible witness to the rapid increase of the commerce of the Port. It was officially named 'Revenue Buildings' as it also housed the Inland Revenue and cost £230,000 to erect, with the building not opened until 1839. The original Custom House, an insignificant building, had stood at the bottom of Water Street, on the shore, opposite to the Tower. Its successor, the Old Custom House, was built in 1721- 22, at the east end of the Old Dock. This was the building in time superseded by the new building, then one of the finest buildings in the city at the time.
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| Pictured around 1875 |
On the night of the 3rd-4th May 1941 the Custom House was hit by fire bombs that set the building ablaze. It suffered terrible damage from the fire, losing it's roof and most of it's floors but the shell however remained in place and was in a strong condition.
In 1948 many think it was Liverpool City planners who made the shocking decision to demolish the building. However the building was owned by HMRC and Hansard transcripts indicate that it was the serving Government's neglect of their responsibilities for the preservation of historic and beautiful houses who never consulted the local Council before authorising the destruction of the building. It was believed the decision was made for the ridiculous reason that they thought it would give work to the unemployed.The disapproval of the local people counted for nothing and the Custom House was raised to the ground. The council did however petition to not have it destroyed and this utter crazy action cost Liverpool one of its most famous buildings. William Morris, a revolutionary force in Victorian Britain has said, "It has been most truly said that these old buildings do not belong to us only: that they belonged to our forefathers and they will belong to our descendants unless we play them false. They are not in any sense our property, to do as we like with them. We are only trustees for those who come after us …" Clearly not a message that had any sway with several generations of politicians and planners in Liverpool.
By 1963 nothing had been built upon the site but it is now part of the site occupied by the Liverpool 1 Shopping complex where the Hilton Hotel now stands.
see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/10/remembering-liverpool-structures_11.html
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