Hope Street, Liverpool

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Everyman Theathre at dusk from the steps of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King, showing Hope Street in the background

Hope Street, Liverpool, England stretches from Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral past Liverpool Cathedral to Upper Parliament Street. It contains several restaurants, hotels and bars. The road runs parallel to Rodney Street (the Harley Street of the north). The Georgian architecture of the area continues in the adjoining Canning area. Together with Gambier Terrace and Rodney Street it forms the Rodney Street conservation area.

1 History
2 Notable buildings and places of interest
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

Hope Street was straightened during the 1790’s and residential construction commenced around the turn of the century. The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra) stands on the corner of Myrtle Street and Hope Street. It was designed by Herbert James Rowse and built between 1936 and 1939. This replaced the original building built 90 years earlier to designs by John Cunningham that burned down in 1933. It is built of brick and is starkly cubic in appearance except for a pair of rounded stair-towers to the front. The first floor windows and main entrance doors have etched glass by Hector Whistler. On Hope Street at the top of Mount Street (where stands LIPA and the former Liverpool Institute for Boys) is the interesting sculpture “A Case History” by John King, 1998. Various items of luggage, cast in concrete, are stacked on the pavement – the labels on the suitcases refer to notable individuals and institutions linked with the local area. Facing the Anglican Cathedral on Hope Street is Gambier Terrace of which numbers 2-10 were built between 1832 and 1837 by the developer Ambrose Lace, to a design in ashlar ad stucco often attributed to John Foster Jr. Building work ceased in 1837, due to a slump in demand for large city houses caused by the opening of railway routes to the new suburbs. The terrace was extended by four more houses between the late 1830s early 1840s. The terrace was not completed until the 1870s and this part is in itself symmetrical and is built of yellow brick. As if by divine intervention, at each end of Hope Street is the Anglican Liverpool Cathedral and the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral.