Walk Leader
Trevor Litherland
Capacity
8
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral & St James’ Garden
Liverpool Cathedral built wholly in the twentieth century, 1904 – 1978. It is the largest cathedral and religious building in Britain and the eighth largest in the world. It is based on a design by Giles Gilbert Scott and when he was chosen at the age of 22, admitted that he’d only previously fully designed a pipe rack. It is the longest cathedral, with an external length of 189 m (621 ft), in the world.
The cathedral was initially designed in the gothic style but later modifications in design altered this slightly as did the 1910 modification by Scott to his original winning design, replacing the twin towers with one single large one. Several places for the siting of the cathedral were mooted but the final position on St James’ Mount, a local lookout spot, was a triumph as the cathedral towers above it’s city.
Behind the cathedral lies St James’ Garden, which used to be the burial ground for some of finest founders of the city as well as it’s poorest. It is now a garden for strolling around, admiring the remaining grave stones and family vaults as well as viewing the only extant open spring in Liverpool, the Chalybeate Spring, supposedly curing all ills and maintaining good health. The garden also houses the Huskisson Memorial, dedicated to the first person to die from injuries in a railway accident in 1830. This occurred as the Member of Parliament was crossing the line at the steam trials of the Liverpool – Manchester railway.
The walk should take between two/three hours and cover no more than eight kilometres but this is up to the participants. There are many opportunities to photograph stained glass windows, vaulted arches, gothic style masonry and maybe art installations. I would suggest sensible shoes, especially for the St James’ Garden, as there is uneven ground and a steep sloping entrance. There is a gift shop and bistro inside the cathedral.
As a side note, lighting is very subdued within the cathedral; a wide-angle lens and a tripod (if allowed, generally for small scale) are useful for capturing the scale, though hand-held shooting is common, often at high ISO.
Walk Location
Liverpool Anglican Cathedral & St James' Garden.
Walk Directions
Liverpool Cathedral is about 35 minutes walk away from Liverpool Lime Street station and about the same from Liverpool Central station. From the centre of Liverpool it is an uphill walk for most of the way, through streets that are photographically interesting. There is a car park at the cathdral that is pay on exit. Prices range from £2.50 to £15 (for 24 hrs). It's capacity is 200 cars and works as a first come first served basis. There are several other car parks sited around. Parking in the streets near the cathedral is resident badge only.
We will meet at the western (main) entrance, just off Upper Duke Street.
Accessibility
As I have described above, Liverpool Cathedral is sited upon St James' Mount and most of the approaches are uphill. Once inside the cathedral, it is mostly level ground with a few steps into side chapels. Although I do not intend to take the tower visit on this occassion, if participants wish to ascend there are two, separate, small lifts and then many steps before exiting onto the roof. It is a hike!
Access to St James' Garden is down a sloping path, however the garden itself is level, except for the bier slopes at the back of the garden.
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