St Luke?s Church [The Bombed Out Church]

Nov 29 2008 by Mark Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

A LIVERPOOL based community group unveiled a makeover at the city centre?s St Luke?s Church.

Urban Strawberry Lunch (USL), which is dedicated to the upkeep of the war-torn building, carried out the work after the church scooped ?1,800 of goods and services.

The funding came from B&Q?s One Planet Living Awards, which aims to help reduce the ecological footprint and enhance the local community.

In the late evening of Monday May 5 1941 the church at the corner of Leece Street and Berry street was hit by an incendiary bomb during the blitz.

But the church stood and represents a vital chapter in city's history and holds a special place in the hearts of Liverpudlians.

Scores turned out to see the transformation, including Riverside MP Louise Ellman.

LIVERPOOL?S bombed-out church is being turned into a cinema. Read

Thats interesting.. but, doesn't seem large enough to accomodate the people ... Sort of strange to show pics in a reverant place.. My thoughts are that Williamson square would probably be a better choice ... hemmm..

Merry Christmas

ps,, Isn't St.Lukes suppose to be haunted?

BTW, the clock in the church was taken from the Toxteth Dock hydraulic station in the 1970s, when they cleaned up the church stone, which was bible black. The dock had recently closed down and it was thought all the dock buildings would be demolished. They were later put under preservation orders.

The original clock was burnt out and the clock hands stuck at 5:25, the time the fire from the bombing reached the clock. The face had gone but the hands still there. They should have left the old clock alone at 5:25. I was astounded that anyone could take the old clock away - replacing it was a real dumb thing to do.

http://www.sjsfiles.btinternet.co.uk/img0045c.jpg

Not a very good day for a service in there!

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The original clock was burnt out and the clock hands stuck at 5:25, the time the fire from the bombing reached the clock. The face had gone but the hands still there. They should have left the old clock alone at 5:25. I was astounded that anyone could take the old clock away - replacing it was a real dumb thing to do.

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Not sure where you got that information from - I have a photograph from a lady who lived in Bold Place. She said that between Midnight and 3:30am, St Luke's was given a direct hit. The photo's show the clock stopped at 3:36am - which may have been over an hour after the bomb was dropped - mainly because of the fire taking hold and burning through the tower at a slow pace. The only part of the tower that remained (internally) was the steel bell frame, everything else including the original clock and movement crashed to the ground.

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Originally Posted by Cadfael

Not sure where you got that information from - I have a photograph from a lady who lived in Bold Place. She said that between Midnight and 3:30am, St Luke's was given a direct hit. The photo's show the clock stopped at 3:36am - which may have been over an hour after the bomb was dropped - mainly because of the fire taking hold and burning through the tower at a slow pace. The only part of the tower that remained (internally) was the steel bell frame, everything else including the original clock and movement crashed to the ground.

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I got the information by looking at the clock. I'm pretty sure it was 5:25. It may have been different depending on the face.