The Great Space
The soaring central hall beneath the tower shrinks visitors to dots and is the heart of the visit.
calflier001 — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Rodhullandemu — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marathon — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Marathon — CC BY-SA 2.0
A 22-year-old drew it, and he never saw it finished. Giles Gilbert Scott won the design competition in 1903, the first stone went down in 1904, and the last work was signed off in 1978, eighteen years after his death. What he left on St James's Mount is a red sandstone colossus: Britain's largest religious building, the longest cathedral anywhere at 189 metres, with a central tower that climbs 101 metres without a spire to help it. The statistics matter less than what they do to you. Stand beneath the tower in the central hall they call the Great Space and the people around you shrink to dots; that vertigo of sheer emptiness is the real reason to come. Entry to the building is free and unbooked, open daily 10:00-18:00 with last entry fifteen minutes before closing. Inside, the restraint is deliberate: tall stained glass, the largest church organ in Britain, and, hanging over the west door, a pink neon sentence by Tracey Emin that catches everyone off guard in a Gothic setting. Do not skip the Lady Chapel tucked into the south-east corner, the first part completed (consecrated in 1910) and by far the most ornate, reached by its own stepped entrance. The only thing you pay for is the Tower Experience: £8 for an adult, £6.50 concession, £22.50 for a family of two adults and up to three children, bought from the cathedral shop on the spot or through its online shop at the same price; advance booking is not really needed. Two consecutive lifts take you most of the way, then 108 narrow steps to the roof, so it is no place for pushchairs, wheelchairs or anyone with heart or breathing trouble, though children of five and up tend to love it. From the top you get the Mersey, the whole city and, on a clear day, the Welsh hills. Last entry to the tower is 16:30 (it opens at noon on Sundays); it closes on bell-ringing days and may shut in bad weather, so check the website before you set out. This is a working church: a service, concert or university graduation can close part of the nave, especially in July and December, and the organ may thunder into life mid-visit. It is a 20-minute uphill walk from Lime Street station, and there is a pay car park on site if you are driving. The best plan is to make it one end of a Hope Street walk: about ten minutes along the road stands the round Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral, with handsome Georgian streets and cafes between the two, and St James's Gardens in the ravine below the cathedral is a shady spot for children in summer.
The soaring central hall beneath the tower shrinks visitors to dots and is the heart of the visit.
Two lifts and 108 steps to a 101-metre rooftop with the river, the city and Wales on a clear day.
The first part finished and the most ornate, reached by its own stepped entrance in the south-east corner.
St James Mount, Liverpool L1 7AZ
Liverpool Metropolitan CathedralLiverpudlians rarely use the official name. To them this is Paddy's Wigwam, or t11 minutes walk4.7
Wheel of LiverpoolSixty metres of transportable steel have stood on Keel Wharf since March 2010, b15 minutes walk4.6
The Beatles StoryBeneath the Albert Dock, in vaults that once held cargo when the port still matt16 minutes walk4.6
St George's HallStep out of Lime Street station and the first thing in front of you is not a hot17 minutes walk4.8
Royal Albert DockIn 1846 these warehouses went up without a single piece of timber: cast iron, br17 minutes walk4.8If time is short, choose this one: the scale, the empty interior and the tower view are unrepeatable, while the round Catholic cathedral is smaller and done in twenty minutes. But they are about ten minutes apart along Hope Street and both are free, so the sensible plan is to walk between the two.
Not for pushchairs at all: after the two lifts there are 108 narrow steps with no way round them. Children of five and up usually enjoy it, under-fives go free but will need carrying. The main floor below is level and easy with a pushchair.