Are those the same cellars that i photographed just before they started digging up Chavasse Park?
The archaeology of the old dock turned up breaks in the wall and remains of compacted earth ramps into the dock. I am not sure whether this was for filling the dock up (unlikely, why not just tip it over the side?) or for construction of foundations or cellars. Certainly a lot of the wall was lost.
I read (I think in the World Heritage Site listing) that it was standing but structurally unsound. It caused quite a shock when it was bombed - "the Customs House went last night...." it seems to have been much-missed?
The cellars under Chavasse Park were all outside of the dock and must be the buildings facing the dock in the picture.
I think it would have been quite usual in a grand civic building to have a raised ground floor so that the building was entered up 'grand' steps (like George's Hall). The arches and small rooms also suggest that the walls supported a floor for bigger spaces above. Question is, can anyone convince themselves that the semi-circular shapes are stairs down into another basement? This shape would have been stronger in brickwork than a modern rectangular stair.
Last edited by Waterways; 04-24-2008 at 07:49 PM.
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longer of special interest to anyone, least of all the
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W Herdman: Entrance to the Old Dock
"From the draw-bridge, we see, towards the river, the gut or entrance into the basin from the river; and that the gut or basin accomodates both this and the Salt-house dock. Looking up the dock, we observe the Custom-house facing us at the other end. This first-constructed dock has been made about 75 years. Its walls are of brick. It is 200 yards long; of irregular breadth, but which may average 80 yards; with an area of 16,832 sqare yards.
This dock is a receptacle for West India and African ships, as it is contiguous to the Warehouses of the Merchants concerned in those branches of Commerce. Also Irish traders and vessels from Portugal, Spain and the Mediterranean. The surrounding houses are altogether public-houses, or shops with such wearing apparel &c as are most commonly wanted by seamen. Adjoining the gates of this dock is the place where fish are most commonly landed from the different fishing boats from Ireland, Scotland and the more adjacent neighbouring coasts.
As we proceed along the dock we observe a great many small vessels, chiefly sloops with one mast each, and which are coasting traders, mostly from the northern coast, extending to Scotland; as may be observed by painted boards, hung upon the most conspicuous parts of the rigging, denoting the places they are bound to. This is generally a busy, crowded place.
... Crossing one of the bridges, we are upon Man's Island; all artificial ground, raised from the sea. The left direction leads us to the quay where the Dublin Packets lie, with their packet-houses and offices facing them; which buildings are called Nova Scotia".
W Moss: The Liverpool Guide, 1796.
A View of the Customs-House Taken From Traffords Weint
Chester: a Virtual Stroll Around the Walls-
http://www.chesterwalls.info
The Liverpool Gallery-
http://www.chesterwalls.info/gallery/liverpool.html
The Chester Shop
http://www.thechestershop.com
Chester & Liverpool Guided Walks
http://www.chesterwalls.info/guidedwalks.html
This edition of the Ordnance Survey maps showed the ground floors of public buildings, and it's apparent that the rooms in the Custom House were rather small - for such a huge building, so I've now got an open mind about what remained after the main structure was demolished in 1948.
The monument was to Huskisson.
Ogden's weint off Litherland Alley was still there until at last as the 1970s.
"as late as"? They only cleared that in the mid 1960s. I used to pay in it - a wonderous maze. We would run along the walls which were about 3 to 4 foot thick.
Yep. The operation was moved to London so the place was demolished. Another case of London raping the city.I heard it said that the interior of the Customs House was, like the Museum, gutted by incendiaries but that its main structure was basically ok and could also have been restored. What we see in the pictures is deliberate demolition, not bomb damage. Can anyone confirm?
Here is the Customs house burnt out in the background.
The new Amsterdam at Liverpool?
Save Liverpool Docks and Waterways - Click
Deprived of its unique dockland waters Liverpool
becomes a Venice without canals, just another city, no
longer of special interest to anyone, least of all the
tourist. Would we visit a modernised Venice of filled in
canals to view its modern museum describing
how it once was?
Giving Liverpool a full Metro - CLICK
Rapid-transit rail: Everton, Liverpool & Arena - CLICK
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"The Walker Art Gallery Liverpool statue of Huskisson was originally in St James's Cemetery, Liverpool, on top of the remains of William Huskisson. The sculpture was housed in a specially built mausoleum. The housing of the sculpture attracted a lot of criticism. Many critics thought that to allow such an important sculpture to be viewed from one direction only was a waste.
The critics suggested that the sculpture could be moved to another location in the city. However, William Huskisson's wife wanted the sculpture to remain above her husband's grave. She commissioned the sculptor Gibson to create another sculpture in marble. This second sculpture was supposed to stand in the Custom House, Liverpool. The sculpture, completed in 1836, didn't stay in Liverpool however, and was instead placed at the Royal Exchange, London. Today it can be found in Pimlico Gardens, London.
Using the second marble sculpture as a master, a bronze version was cast. This bronze version of the sculpture was unveiled in October 1847. Its original location was in front of the Customs House in Canning Place, Liverpool. The Customs House was destroyed during air raids in 1940 during the Second World War. In 1954 the sculpture was moved to a new home on the Princes Road/Princes Avenue boulevard. The sculpture was pulled from its plinth in the Toxteth Riots of 1981because people thought Huskisson had been a slave trader. From 1982 onwards the bronze sculpture was housed in the Oratory in St James's Mount Gardens. In 2004 it came into the sculpture studios at the National Conservation Centre for conservation. The sculpture is now located in a new housing development off Duke Street in the city centre. (Duke Street Terrace near The Chinese Arch).
I am grateful to Alan Maycock for putting together this information. His sources were various National Museums in Liverpool: the National Conservation Centre, Liverpool Monuments , Lowton history site"
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