Happy Heritage Treasures Day!
2024 is an important year for Liverpool Cathedral as it is our Centenary – marking 100 years since the consecration of our incredible building on July 19th 1924! The consecration was attended by many, including King George and Queen Mary.
We are proud to be a part of a city with such incredible and diverse heritage. Built by the people of Liverpool, for the people of Liverpool.
One of the things first time visitors say time and time again is how impressed they are with the scale and beauty of Liverpool Cathedral. Thanks to the support from the Townsweb Archiving, we are now able to digitise over 1,000 hand drawn images from Sir Giles Gilbert Scott himself. Liverpool Cathedral’s design infamously changed radically from concept in 1904 to completion in 1978, and our unique archive documents the changes as they happened.
Some people may not know that we still rely on these drawings today to make repairs and ensure we are able to conserve our Grade I listed building. Digitising these drawings means we will now be able to easily share information with conservators like stonemasons at the click of a button, as well as support new academic research about Liverpool Cathedral.
“Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was a globally significant architect and designer and was chosen to be one of the pages in the British passport. It is crucially important to preserve his drawings of Liverpool Cathedral,” said Cathedral Archivist, Val Jackson. “Despite his other globally recognised contributions to design such as Battersea Power Station and the red telephone boxes, Liverpool Cathedral is considered to be his crowning achievement and to lose the drawings would be a catastrophic. These drawings could be so easily lost if the Cathedral suffered a disaster such as a fire or flood.”
Each year it costs over £1 million just to maintain and repair our building. If you are able to support Liverpool Cathedral be there for future generations you can donate here.
Thank you
Exploring the Sunday Gospel – Epiphany