Can anyone steer me in the right direction as regards St Lukes Church (The bombed out church) not it's past history, it's current state, like who owns it ? is there a website I can visit?
I thank you:)
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Can anyone steer me in the right direction as regards St Lukes Church (The bombed out church) not it's past history, it's current state, like who owns it ? is there a website I can visit?
I thank you:)
Hello GhostSearch
St. Luke's is maintained as a war memorial currently but there are plans hopefully to rehang the bells in the belltower. You might contact the Merseyside Bell Restoration Group who are working on this to find out information on who owns the property though I suspect the Liverpool Diocese owns it. See address and email addy at end of the bell ringers website.
Chris
I've got a few pics taken a few months ago, but no info.
http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/stlukes/index.html
http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/...s/image004.jpg
I can do better than that!
I'm selling these.......(not off the back of a lorry..I'm a committee member!)
The Merseyside Bell Restoration Group (MBRG) was officially adopted in December of 1994, but had been in unofficial existence for 20 years prior to that date. The MBRG is administered by a group of six Trustees who are all church Bellringers.
Peace & Good Neighbourhood was written by Bryan McCahey and first published on St Luke’s Day, 18th October 1995. The book chronicles the history of the site of St Luke’s, construction of the church, history of the bells themselves, and also the significance of the ‘first all-metal bell frame’ still in situ in the tower. This frame design (1828) was the forerunner of all modern bell frames. It also describes the destruction of the bells and body of the church in the blitz of 1941.
It is a 61-page hard backed book and printed using letterpress and as such it is one of the few truly hand-made books published in recent years.
The book also contains a list of the peals rung between 1829 and 1931 together with illustrations of the church and rare photographs of the bell frame.
The price of the book is just £10, £11.50 inclusive of post and packaging. A very small sum in my opinion for such a rare and detailed book of the information on the bells. All proceeds go to the restricted St Luke’s Fund, administered by the MBRG, and as such it cannot be used for any other project or purpose within the MBRG.
Please see the pictures below for a view of the book, the layout and also rare drawings of St Luke’s gone by which feature in the book.
PM if you would like my address to send a cheque to!
I can do better than getting them to contact the MBRG as that website is out of date now as I'm working on a new one :)
We have to go back to past history to realise why St Luke's Church is still standing.
When the site was first given for a church to be built, it was stipulated that only a church could ever be built on the site.
We only have to consider all the other churches that were in the city centre (presumably without any such clause) which have all gone.
Two off the top of my head are the Pro Cathedral St Peter's on Church Road (where HMV is now), the bells were taken out and are now in St Helens.
Also St Thomas Park Lane and come to think of it, St John's which was on the site of St Georges hall!
You're a font of knowledge about churches Jon. This is not meant to be sarky/ironic (I know how things can be misinterpreted when posting stuff and I'm a bugger for doing sarky). Keep 'em coming.:PDT_Piratz_26:
Hehe the day I get offended by words on a screen.....:)
Pics are of St John's (very rare pic), St Thomas and St Peters! (with two pics of St Peters being demolished)!
Thanks, they are rare pictures.
In the last picture the photographer shows Woolworths (the first in the UK) probably aware of the fact that St Peter's was getting demolished for the new Woolworths.
Info on St Peters:
• 1905: Last peal on the bells at St Peter’s.
• c1920: The bells were removed from the tower by Taylor’s. After being stored both at Taylor’s and Mears’ and after tuning they were rehung at St. Helens Parish Church, although it was considered for a while to hang them at St. Barnabas Penny Lane, but this did not come to fruition as the vicar of Penny Lane at the time thought the tower not strong enough.
• 1922: St Peter’s was demolished. A brass cross embedded in the pavement in Church Street (outside HMV) marks the spot where the high altar once was.
And the info on St Luke's:
The site of St Luke's had been granted to the town by Lord Derby in 1791 and it was a condition of his gift that this land should never be devoted to any other purpose than the site of a church. Furthermore, no burials were to take place either inside or even within the grounds.
The foundation stone was laid on 9th april 1811 by James Drinkwater Esq, chief magistrate of Liverpool.
In the tower today remains the first ever all metal bell frame in the world!
My God no. A very small spiral stone staircase winds itself up to the clock room and from there, there is only a single wooden ladder that goes up to the bell chamber - combined with their being no roof on the tower at the moment either. There's not that much to see from the top, you think you'd have a grand view but you can just about peak out on the rooftops below towards the river.
Health and Safety wouldn't allow a single staircase incase of a fire and English Heritage wouldn't approve anything as it's Grade 1 listed.
There is talk of putting the ex-Widnes St Paul bells in the tower sometime in the future but I don't think it'll ever happen. The stability of the tower wouldn't take it now.
I do think it's one of the finest Tudoresque designs...uhhh ever? Hahaha, that was dumb but I just think it's a rather fine and fairly unsung architectural gem
Always reminds me of the film 'A Man For All Seasons'
cheers guys for all the info, much appreciated :)
What teed me off when they cleared out St Lukes and cleaned it up, it was black, was that the clock was still stuck on I think 5:25, the time it was bombed/burned out. They took this away and put in a new clock that worked. What a totally dumb idea. Some people in Liverpoopl at times totally thick - they work in council - where you need to fail an IQ test to join.
It's said that between 00:20 and 4:15am was the time when the bomb fell, the clock (from old photos) stopped at 3:36am most likey when the fire took hold in the upper part of the tower.
And as a war memorial I think it was rather a sacrilege to let the artist fill it with his recent "installation" of green boats, don't you???
Below: Installation in St. Luke's Church, Liverpool.
http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/stlukes/index.html
http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/...s/image004.jpg[/QUOTE]
Here is a rare picture of the interior of St Lukes Church that i used in my liverpool montage , I think it dates from the 30s and the source is unknown to me sorry
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k8...s_interior.jpg
An AMAZING picture! I've never seen the inside of St Luke's when it was being used! :eek: :)
Hi all
Several weeks ago, Scouserdave and I noticed the following on a BBC website posted by Andrew Stobart, Secretary of the Grünhaus Project:
"Construction of a Sustainable Building from the derelict St Lukes Church on Berry Street, Liverpool, with an on line Database of Renewable Energy Technologies, plus teaching, conference & exhibition facilities. Aimed as part of Liverpool City of Culture 2008"
Over the holiday period, I sent an email to Mr Stobart to clarify the situation, asking, "Could you please explain what do you mean by a Sustainable Building? Are there plans to put a roof on the church and put it to some use? We had thought the idea was that St. Luke's would be left as it was as a permanent memorial to the Blitz?"
Mr Stobart has kindly replied, and the slightly edited letter reads as following. I am PM'ing Dave with the full text including phone nos. etc. I am not entirely certain what is being proposed even now despite this reply but perhaps Dave could kindly get additional clarification of what is being planned for St. Luke's Church. Thank you, Dave.
Dear Mr George,
Humble apologies, the BBC entry got "left" when the Grünhaus policy changed from considering St Lukes to considering other buildings in Liverpool, The BBC entry was altered on 12 April last and the mention of St Lukes removed, do not know why it is still there, see http://www.grunweb.org.uk for the present situation. We still aim to have a "sustainable" building, - one that generates/collects all it's own energy supplies, plus the "On Line Technology Database"
May I suggest that you contact Prof Lewis Lesley, Director Grünhaus Project for more information and/or a chat on the whole subject?
I hope to talk to Nick of the Echo soon, if Liverpool could "get it's act together" it could become a Centre of Excellence in all Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology matters. Perhaps you could put something about this on your YoLiverpool site, or tell me how I might do this.
Incidentally the Earl of Liverpool is Grünhaus patron, and I shall be 80 next July !!. Have been involved with "Environmental matters" since 1970, on a report to National Assembly for Wales in 2002 I advocated a Wind Powered Whiskey Distillery in West Wales [first mention of whiskey in UK was in Wales c 400 AD, long before the Irish or Scots got hold of the idea !]
Best regards and a Happy New Year
Andrew Stobart, BSc Chem, Eng.
A Ferrand Stobart & Associates, Secretary Grünhaus Project
Bower Orchard, Orleton, Ludlow, SY8 4HU,
http://www.grunweb.org.uk
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/aferrand
St Lukes will be open from 12-2pm May-October, the first time since the Blitz this has happened
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/l...name_page.html