Victoria Tower (Liverpool)

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The Victoria Tower in Liverpool

The Victoria Tower is a Gothic-style bell tower near Salisbury Dock in Liverpool, United Kingdom. The tower was built in 1848 and served the ships entering the harbor for orientation and the departing boats as an indicator for the time and for information about upcoming weather changes. In 1975 the tower was placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest Grade II as a building of outstanding architectural and historical interest and was placed under a preservation order.

history

The Victoria Tower was designed by Jesse Hartley and built in 1847 and 1848 to commemorate the opening of Liverpool's Salisbury Dock. The design is based on earlier drafts by Philip Hardwick from 1846. The tower not only showed the ships leaving the harbor the correct time, but also provided information about upcoming weather changes, tides and fog.

Victoria Tower today

The Victoria Tower also suffered from the decline in shipping in Liverpool and with it the docking facilities. Wind and weather have left their mark on the structure. The roof is damaged and the building is largely overgrown by climbing plants. In April 2010, Peel Holdings , the owner of the Victoria Tower, announced the restoration of the tower and dock facilities. The work is part of the £ 5.5 billion Liverpool Waters rescue program, which aims to preserve Liverpool's port facilities.

design

Hartley's design was inspired by the architecture of the castles in the German Rhine Valley. This can be seen particularly clearly from the incised arrow slits. In addition, gray natural blocks of granite stone were used for the construction, a material that was used in many of Hartley's designs.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Details for IoE Number: 359436 . Images of England . Retrieved April 29, 2010.
  2. ^ A b Quentin Hughes: Liverpool: City of Architecture . Bluecoat Press , 1999. .
  3. ↑ Robert Nicholls: Curiosities of Liverpool . Sutton Publishing , 2005. .
  4. ↑ a b Historic Victoria Clock Tower on banks of the River Mersey to be repaired . Liverpool echo . April 29, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2010.

Coordinates: 53 ° 25 ′ 17.5 ″  N , 3 ° 0 ′ 17.9 ″  W.