Page:EB1911 - Volume 16.djvu/828

Rh are the law-courts. A corridor runs round the hall and the courts, communicating with the various accessory rooms. Externally the east front is faced with a fine portico of sixteen Corinthian columns about 60 ft. in height. An advanced portico of similar columns fronts the south end crowned with a pediment filled with sculpture. The style is Roman, but the refinement of the details is suggestive of the best period of Grecian art. The great hall is finished with polished granite columns, marble balustrades and pavements, polished brass doors with foliated tracery. The fine organ was built by Messrs Willis of London, from the specification of Dr Samuel Wesley. Elmes having died in 1847 during the progress of the work, the building was completed by C. R. Cockerell, R.A.

Next to the public buildings belonging to the city, the most important is the exchange, forming three sides of a quadrangle on the north side of the town-hall. The town-hall was originally built to combine a mercantile exchange with municipal offices, but the merchants preferred to meet in the open street adjoining. This, with other circumstances, led to the erection of a new exchange, a building of considerable merit, which was begun in 1803 and opened in 1808. It had scarcely been in use for more than fifty years when it was found that the wants of commerce had outstripped the accommodation, and the structure was taken down to make room for the present building.

The revenue buildings, begun in 1828 on the site of the original Liverpool dock, formerly combined the customs, inland revenue, post-office and dock board departments but are now only used by the two first named. It is a heavy structure, with three advanced porticoes in the Ilyssus Ionic style. Near by stands the sailors’ home, a large building in the Elizabethan style. The Philharmonic Hall in Hope Street, with not much pretension externally, is one of the finest music rooms in the kingdom; it accommodates an audience of about 2500.

The group of buildings forming the county sessions house, the free public library, museum, central technical school and gallery of art are finely situated on the slope to the north of St George’s Hall. The library and gallery of art are separate buildings, connected by the circular reading-room in the middle. The latter possesses some features in construction worthy of note, having a circular floor 100 ft. in diameter without columns or any intermediate support, and a lecture-room underneath, amphitheatrical in form, with grades or benches hewn out of the solid rock. In 1884 the county sessions house just mentioned, adjoining the art gallery was opened for public business. In 1899 new post-office buildings in Victoria Street were completed. In 1907 two important additions were made to the buildings of Liverpool, the new offices of the dock board, built on the site of a portion of the Old George’s dock, and the new cotton exchange in Oldhall street. The fine mass of buildings which constitute the university and the Royal Infirmary, lying between Brownlow Hill and Pembroke Place, both groups designed by Alfred Waterhouse, was begun in 1885.

Liverpool cathedral, intended when completed to be the largest in the country, from designs by G. F. Bodley and G. Gilbert Scott, was begun in 1904, when the foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII. The foundations were completed in 1906 and the superstructure begun. The foundation of the chapter-house was laid in that year by the duke of Connaught, and work was then begun on the Lady chapel, the vestries and the choir.

Railways.—There are three terminal passenger stations in Liverpool, the London & North Western at Lime Street, the Lancashire & Yorkshire at Exchange and the combined station of the Midland, Great Northern & Great Central at Central. By the Mersey tunnel (opened in 1886) connexion is made with the Wirral railway, the Great Central, the Great Western and the London & North Western, on the Cheshire side of the river. The Liverpool electric overhead railway running along the line of docks from Seaforth to Dingle was opened in 1893, and in 1905 a junction was made with the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway by which through passenger traffic between Southport and the Dingle has been established. In 1895 the Riverside station at the Prince’s dock was completed, giving direct access from the landing stage to the London and North Western system.

Water Supply.—The original supply of water was from wells in the sandstone rock, but in 1847 an act was passed, under which extensive works were constructed at Rivington, about 25 m. distant, and a much larger supply was obtained. The vast increase of population led to further requirements, and in 1880 another act gave power to impound the waters of the Vyrnwy, one of the affluents of the Severn. These works were completed in 1892, a temporary supply having been obtained a year earlier. The corporation had also, however, obtained power to impound the waters of the Conwy and Marchnant rivers, and to bring them into Lake Vyrnwy, the main reservoir, by means of tunnels. This work was completed and opened by the prince of Wales (George V.) in March 1910.

Tramways.—The corporation in 1896 purchased the property, rights, powers and privileges of the Liverpool Electric Supply Company, and in the following year the undertaking of the Liverpool Tramway Company, which they formally took over in the autumn of the same year. Since that date a large and extended system of electric tramways has been laid down, which has led to a very remarkable increase in the receipts and the number of passengers carried.

Administration of Justice.—The city has quarter-sessions for criminal cases, presided over by the recorder, and held eight times in the year. At least two police courts sit daily, and more if required. One is presided over by the stipendiary magistrate and the others by the lay magistrates and the coroner. The court of passage is a very ancient institution, possibly dating from the foundation of the borough by King John, and intended for cases arising out of the imports and exports passing through the town. Its jurisdiction has been confirmed and settled by parliament and it is competent to try civil cases arising within the city to any amount. The mayor is ex-officio the judge, but the presiding judge is an assessor appointed by the crown and paid by the corporation. The court sits about five times a year. There is a Liverpool district registry of the chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster which has concurrent jurisdiction with the high court (chancery division) within the hundred of West Derby. The vice-chancellor holds sittings in Liverpool. There is a Liverpool district registry of the high court of justice with common law, chancery, probate and admiralty jurisdiction, under two district registrars. The Liverpool county court has the usual limited jurisdiction over a wide local area, together with bankruptcy jurisdiction over the county court districts of St Helens, Widnes, Ormskirk and Southport, and admiralty jurisdiction over the same districts with the addition of Birkenhead, Chester, Runcorn and Warrington. There are two judges attached to the court.

Ecclesiastical.—The see of Liverpool was created in 1880 under the act of 1879, by the authority of the ecclesiastical commissioners, an endowment fund of about £100,000 having been subscribed for the purpose. The parish, which was separated from Walton-on-the-Hill in 1699, contained two churches, St Nicholas, the ancient chapel, and St Peter’s, then built. There were two rectors, the living being held in medieties. Of recent years changes have been sanctioned by parliament. The living is now held by a single incumbent, and a large number of the churches which have since been built have been formed into parishes by the ecclesiastical commissioners. St Peter’s has been constituted the pro-cathedral, pending the erection of the cathedral. Besides the two original parish churches, there are 103 others belonging to the establishment. The Roman Catholics form a very numerous and powerful body in the city, and it is estimated that from a third to a fourth of the entire population are Roman Catholics. A large part of these are Irish settlers or their descendants, but this district of Lancashire has always been a stronghold of Roman Catholicism, many of the landed gentry belonging to old Roman Catholic families.

Charities.—The earliest charitable foundation is the Blue Coat hospital, established in 1708, for orphans and fatherless children born within the borough. The original building, opened in 1718, is a quaint and characteristic specimen of the architecture of the period. It now maintains two hundred and fifty boys and one hundred girls. In 1906 the school was removed to new buildings at Wavertree. There is an orphan asylum, established in 1840, for boys, girls and infants, and a seamen’s orphan asylum, begun in 1869, for boys and girls. The Roman Catholics have similar establishments. The Liverpool dispensaries founded in 1778 were among the pioneers of medical charity. The Royal Infirmary (opened in 1749) had a school of medicine attached, which has been very successful, and is now merged in the university. The sailors’ home, opened in 1852, designed to provide board, lodging and medical attendance at a moderate charge for the seamen frequenting the port, is one of Liverpool’s best-known charities. The David Lewis Workmen’s Hostel is an effort to solve the difficulty of providing accommodation for unmarried men of the artizan class.

Literature, Art and Science.—The free library, museum and gallery of arts, established and managed by the city council, was originated in 1850. The first library building was erected by Sir William Brown. The Derby museum, containing the collections of Edward, the 13th earl, was presented by his son. The Mayer museum of historical antiquities and art was contributed by Mr Joseph Mayer, F.S.A. Sir Andrew Walker (d. 1893) erected in 1877 the art gallery which bears his name. Large additions were made in 1884, the cost being again defrayed by Sir Andrew Walker. An annual exhibition of painting is held in the autumn and a permanent collection has been formed, which was augmented in 1894 when the examples of early