St George's Hall
St George's Hall reopened its doors after a £23million refurbishment in April 2007. HRH The Prince of Wales attended the opening ceremony.
Repairs and redecoration were carried out to the roof, stairwells, north entrance hall and the Small Concert Room - where Charles Dickens gave penny readings.
Key features of the Heritage Centre include:
- the original south entrance hall on St Johns Lane, designed by Harvey Longsdale Elmes, but never before used by the public has been reopened, providing wheelchair-friendly ground floor access to the building from St John's Lane;
- oppportunities to visit the cells used by prisoners awaiting trial;
- the newly refurbished Criminal Court and Judge's Robing Room;
- glimpses of the unique ventilation system designed by Dr David Boswell Reid;
- a Learning Suite for school parties;
- a Community Room entitled 'World Heritage-Your Heritage' where local groups can display exhibitions;
- a new accessible viewing gallery for the Great Hall;
- the Minton Tea Room.
Two different self-guided tours take visitors on a journey into the past:
- "The Power and the Glory" looks at the architecture and at those who built St George's Hall within the context of the power and the people of Liverpool, the rich and poor.
- "Truth and Justice" follows the route of prisoners, starting where the carts brought them in and through the cells to the dock. Hand-held electronic devices enable visitors to choose a real person who was dealt with by the law and follow their individual story through the courts. In addition, two cells have been fitted out as replicas of the Victorian age and 1920s, complete with the sounds and smells of the eras, and once in the court, visitors can try on robes in the robing room, and take part in interactive events in the courtroom.
The different levels of the interpretation centre are linked by stairwells with moving timelines throughout the floors, whilst there is full wheelchair access to the viewing gallery above the great hall.
On the third floor is a 3D frieze of Liverpool in its earliest days, over which later images of the city are projected tracing its physical development.
Map showing project location
View interactive map