Remembering Liverpool Structures - St George's Place

What a magnificent area this would be if these building had still been in place! Coming out of Lime Street Station to the right would stand the magnificent North Western Hotel, completed in 1871, the building was opened as a hotel by the London and North Western Railway to serve Lime Street station. Designed in a Renaissance style by Aigburth born Alfred Waterhouse, the hotel contained 330 rooms including billiards, smoking and reading rooms all elegantly furnished by local companies.The building was constructed in stone with a slate roof in the Renaissance Revival style reminiscent of a French château and a prominent feature are the two towers in the middle, similar to those in Tower Bridge. The hotel was closed in 1933, becoming Lime Street Chambers for a while before closing once again this time for 60 years. In 1952, the building was declared a Grade II listed building by Historic England. In 1994 the building was bought by John Moores University for £6m and was converted into a hall of residence with accommodation for 250 students, opening in 1996 and also incorporates Wetherspoons on the ground floor. St George's Hall, opposite Lime Street railway station, opened in 1854 and is a Neoclassical building which contains concert halls and law courts, and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. This magnificent structure stands at 169ft long and 74ft wide with a tunnel vaulted ceiling, the largest of its kind in the whole of Europe.
The interior architecture is a reflection of the ostentatious display that Victorian Liverpool had, with a ceiling supported on massive red granite columns and figures portraying art, science, fortitude and justice. Look beyond the gold leaf and porticoes in the Great Hall; this is home to the greatest brick arches in the world, and houses a breath-taking Minton tiled floor of over 30,000 mosaic tiles, which has been revealed numerous times since the building's reopening.

 

 

Exiting Lime Street Station, to the left was a lively St George's Place, with the famous Guinness Clock and two further hotels, the Washington and the Imperial. The Imperial Hotel was beneath the Guinness Clock with the Washington Hotel next to it advertising Martell brandy.
Demolished in 1964 along with all the other buildings in that area, including the Empress Chinese restaurant, to make way for the new development of St John's Precinct. Strictly speaking the old Empress Chinese Restaurant was number 2 & 4 Lime Street so St. George's Place ended there.

The Crown Pub is next to the station on Lime Street and is the first pub people see on arrival in Liverpool. On the exterior is the richest art nouveau of any pub and it is really impressive with its moulded plaster friezes, the shallow box windows on the first and second floor, the cut glass windows, the copper panels and the beautiful golden letters outside. The architect is unknown and 1859 is the earliest reference to a pub here. In 1888 William Clarkson, the owner of the Midland, took over here but like others in 1905, it was taken over by Peter Walker, Brewers of Warrington and Burton on Trent.

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2022/01/remembering-liverpool-structures-st.html