The ornate St George’s Hall in Liverpool
When: 13th – 19th April 2017
Where: St George’s Hall, St George’s Place, Liverpool L1 1JJ
£: Admission to hall costs £2.50 and walking tours cost £10. Tickets for the Night on the Tiles event cost £12. To book Walk the Floor tours or A Night on the Tiles, visit www.ticketquarter.co.uk or call 0844 800 0410.
What is it?
Visitors to Liverpool’s St Georges Hall will get the rare opportunity to view the spectacular Grade I listed building in all of its remarkable glory this April. The hall’s famous Minton Tiled flooring will be unveiled from Thursday 13th to Wednesday 19th April.
Amongst the world’s finest examples of an encaustic tiled floor, the handcrafted mosaic containing more than 30,000 tiles, was concealed in the 1860s to allow dancing and events to take place at the prestigious venue.
The intricate and exquisite patterned tiled flooring depicts the Liver Birds, the Roman god Neptune, sea nymphs, dolphins and tridents, in what was the largest Minton pavement in the world when it was first constructed.
The hall will be open daily from 10am to 5pm (last entry 4pm), during which time visitors will be able to view Liverpool’s hidden gem and gaze at the site of the Great Hall in all its original grandeur. City Historian Steve Binns will also be available daily at 11am, 12pm, 2pm and 3pm, to provide a detailed insight into the history of The Great Hall.
The beautifully tiled floor
One-hour guided Walk the Floor tours will be available each day at 10am and 4pm, enabling visitors to learn about the history of the hall and the flooring. Tours will also allow visitors to walk on the world-renowned Minton Tiled floor.
And why not enjoy a Night on the Tiles? Each evening from 6pm to 9pm, guests will be able to enjoy the rare privilege of being able to ‘walk’ on the world heritage site floor whilst enjoying a complimentary glass of fizz.
St George’s Hall is a unique neo-classical building, and the centre of Liverpool’s traditional cultural forum. The foundation stone was laid in 1838, and the hall was built as a result of competitions to create a space for the aspirational city to hold its music festivals and other assemblies. The hall contains the vastly ornate Great Hall with its vaulted ceiling, Minton tiled floor, replete with maritime and civic symbolism, and is also home to a massive pipe organ.
Unusually, the hall also houses the Crown and Civil Court, which were working courts until the 1980’s. The ground floor and basement levels also house holding cells for prisoners, and the condemned cell. St George’s Hall can lay claim to one of the oldest ventilation and air conditioning systems in the world, the workings of which can be seen in the lower basement level and throughout the hall.
More info: www.stgeorgesliverpool.co.uk.