Hope Street is one of Liverpool’s most iconic and well known streets not least for the fact that it links the citys two cathedrals. Linking Upper Parliament Street with Mount Pleasant it was named after William Hope, a wool and textile merchant, who lived on the site of what is now the Philharmonic Hall in the mid nineteenth century.
Today Hope Street is identified as being an integral part of the city’s Georgian Quarter, named after the town houses that were built in the area, in the Georgian style, from the early 1800s.
The southern end of Hope Street is dominated by the imposing presence of The Anglican Cathedral and St James Gardens.
The design was an open competition which was won by 22 year old Giles Gilbert Scott, who later went on to design the iconic red telephone box and Battersea Power Station.
Work officially began in 1904 and was not finished until 1978, eighteen years after Scotts death. Built in the gothic style of local red sandstone it dominates the skyline and is the fifth largest cathedral in the world. You can visit the cathedral’s website here.
Crossing Upper Duke Street the building on the left is The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, although is main entrance is on Mount Street. Opened in 1996 in the building that was once The Liverpool Institute Boys School, the former school of former Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison, it has become one of the leading learning centres of its type.
On the corner of Hope Street and Mount Street is John Kings 1998 art installation entitled A Case History. There are 27 cases in total which supposedly belong to people that have some connection with the Hope Street area. There is a noticeboard in Mount Street which lists the ‘owner’ of each case.
Opposite stands Blackburne House. When it was built as a private dwelling in 1788 it was in the countryside, removed from fast developing city. It is set back slightly from the road and surrounded by a wall which makes it rather difficult to see the building which is currently Grade II listed.
It became a girls school in 1844 and remained so until its closure in 1986. After laying empty for several years it was finally redeveloped into a training centre for women.
Crossing Hope Street once again we come to the statues of Bishop David Sheppard and Archbishop Derek Worlock.
Located by The London Carriage Works restaurant it is exactly halfway between the Anglican and Metropolitan cathedrals. Both men did much for the city of Liverpool, especially during the dark days for the city in the early eighties when unemployment and poverty put the city at odds with the then Tory government. They were often seen together and they worked tirelessly to bring communities and groups together. In recognition of the work they did for their adopted home they were awarded the Freedom of the City of Liverpool in 1994.
The statue represents two open doors and has newspaper headlines and clippings about them on the reverse.
The Philharmonic Hall opened in 1939 and was built in the Art Deco style, a very popular architectural style at the time. it is home to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra which can trace its origins back to 1840, making it one of the oldest musical societies in the world. As well as orchestral concerts the hall is today also used for contemporary music and comedy shows. A smaller and more intimate venue called the Philharmonic Music Room was recently opened to the rear of the hall with an entrance on Sugnall Street.
Diagonally across the road from The Philharmonic Hall stands The Philharmonic Dining Rooms. Opened originally as a gentleman club but subsequently converted to a public house it is probably one of the finest in the city.
The Phil, as its locally known, is well known for the ornate gents toilets made from rose coloured marble. They are so architecturally important that they are grade I listed, making them a higher listing than the building itself.
The Everyman Theatre stands at the northern end of Hope Street.
The current building opened in 2014 following a three year rebuild but the theatre has been on this site since 1964. The theatre is important both locally and nationally and has been a launching pad for many careers.
Although technically located on Mount Pleasant, The Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King represents the northern end of Hope Street for many people.
Built on the site of an old, victorian workhouse building began in the mid 1930s but plans were stalled by the outbreak of war in 1939. Post war austerity meant that plans had to be scaled back and the redesigned cathedral was finally consecrated in 1967. Of the original plan only the crypt was built and the entrance to this is on nearby Brownlow Hill. The cathedral is known locally as ‘Paddy’s Wigwam’.
