A first of its kind exhibition will mark the centenary of Liverpool’s iconic Royal Liver Building, home of the world famous Liver Birds and the largest electric turret clock in England.
Located at the Pier Head, the Grade I Listed Gothic skyscraper is to open its atrium to the public for one week in July (19 - 24 July, 10am – 6pm). The building’s many historical artefacts, photographs; facts and figures will be displayed.
“We have some fascinating pieces of genuine historic interest and are really looking forward to sharing them with visitors from near and far,” said Head of Property, Peter Fane.
“We know how much affection people have for this landmark and we want to tap into the many more stories, photographs and memorabilia out there and to achieve this we’ve launched a Royal Liver Building Facebook site where people can share their memories, facts and figures and stories about the building.
“Who knows,” added Peter. “Some of the entries might even find themselves as an exhibit in our very own Royal Liver Building Atrium.”
Attractions at the exhibition will include a recreation of the Royal Liver Building’s celebrated Grade II* Listed Board Room, the original plans for the building, photographs dating back to its opening and much more.
There will also be a children’s corner where our younger visitors can learn about the building’s most interesting facts and figures and take part in a colouring competition.
There will be a limited number of tours of the Royal Liver Building during the week of the exhibition. See local press and the Facebook page for details.
ends
Royal Liver Building Centenary Facebook site: www.facebook.com/RoyalLiverBuildingCentenary
For further information contact:
Jessica Green – Email: Jessica.green@royal-liver.com Tel: 0151 600 4271
Notes to Editors
Royal Liver Assurance was founded in Liverpool in August 1850 when nine working men got together in The Lyver Inn to form a burial club for local people – ‘The Liverpool Lyver Burial Society’.
Following various moves around the city for the next 60 years, Royal Liver started work on the landmark Royal Liver Building in 1908 and moved in on completion in 1911.
One hundred years on the Royal Liver Building continues to be the Society’s base for its operations throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland and remains, as was always intended, a key asset, housing numerous other tenants.
When the Royal Liver Building was designed by W Aubrey Thomas, it was called ‘radical’ and far ‘too advanced’ for its time - some even said it couldn’t be built.
Engineered by LG Mouchel, it is one of the earliest examples of a multi-storey reinforced concrete construction in the world and is the result of a revolutionary building technique known as the Hennebique Principle, after its inventor, François Hennebique.
It uses a self-contained concrete frame with a network of columns and steel beams to carry the weight of the outer and inner walls and floors.
Built by Edmund Nuttall & Co, the outer walls are designed to act simply as weather screens comprising thin panels of concrete clothed with a curtain of granite.
This type of construction, along with the development of the steel frame went on to make possible the development of skyscrapers - which now dominate the world’s skylines.
Royal Liver’s four clock faces welcome travellers from land and sea. The clock, known as ‘The Great George’, after King George IV, was designed and constructed by Gent and Co of Leicester. It was set in motion on 22nd July 1911 – at the precise moment of the King’s Coronation.
The fours dials of ‘The Great George’, which are situated 220 feet above the ground, each have a diameter of 25 feet (2 ½ feet wider than the dials of Big Ben) and each minute hand is an impressive 14 feet long. It is still the largest clock face in the UK and, was designed to be accurate to within half a minute a year.
Owing to the severity of the weather in the Mersey estuary, each dial has a 3.5 ton iron framework carrying the 660 pounds of opal glass necessary to withstand wind pressure of up to 11 tons per square inch.
As for the famous Liver Birds – arguably more famous then the building itself – these were the result of a competition that was won by a German sculptor, Carl Bernard Bartels from the Black Forest.
Of course, they weren't Liverpool’s first Liver Birds; indeed, there are many different depictions within the Royal Liver Building alone. But they are now considered the ‘standard’ – icons in Liverpool and the ones most reproduced, an example of which may be seen on the jerseys of Liverpool Football Club.
As well being a symbol for Royal Liver Assurance, the Liver Birds have come to be the symbol of Liverpool, for generations bringing comfort to homeward-bound sailors.
The myth goes; if the birds fly away Liverpool will sink into the Mersey. They have never flown away but once, in 1946, they were unclad so repairs could be carried out on their steel skeletons and nothing seemed to happen to the city.
The birds perch 322 feet above the ground and are 18 feet tall. Each wing is 10 feet long and the birds’ legs have a two foot circumference. Each bird weighs four tonnes in total.
The Liver Birds are not statues but were built in situ, fashioned from the steel frames that make up the building’s domes. Some of the girders that form the birds are 25 feet long and the ‘skeleton’ is then clad in gilded copper.
The origins of the Liver Bird still cause some debate, perhaps originally a crude reproduction of an eagle from one of Liverpool’s (badly drawn) ancient seals, produced by an artist who had probably never seen an eagle.
This theory fits because the eagle of St John the Evangelist was adopted by King John, who granted the city its charter in 1207 but the seal of Liverpool developed over the years to become a cormorant-type bird as artists became more sophisticated and ornithologically aware.
This seems the most probable basis for the identity of the Liver Bird but ultimately it is simply a mythical figure like the phoenix or the gryphon.
Interestingly, they are not feathers in the birds’ mouths but are more likely broom, the leaved branch that was a symbol of the Plantagenets, the family of King John.
Details of the Royal Liver Building
Foundation Stone laid 11th May 1908
Opened by Lord Sheffield 19th July 1911
Length 301 feet
Width 177 feet
Height (ground to main roof) 167 feet
Height (ground to top of Liver Birds) 322 feet
Height of Liver Birds 18 feet
Number of floors 11 to the main roof with a further 6 in each tower
Number of lifts 12
Number of steps (basement to tower) 486
The height of the Building from the ground to the top of the Liver Birds is equivalent to 22 double-decker buses stacked on top of each other.
Royal Liver Assurance 2007 Royal Liver Assurance is part of Royal London Plus. Royal London Plus is a division of The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Limited which is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority.