Liverpool Anglican cathedral

At a slightly vertigo inducing height of 331 feet my suspicions are affirmed, Liverpool is an undeniably beautiful city.

The tower offers incredible views of the city sprawling out in all directions down to the Mersey, Sefton and Anfield. On a clear day you can even see as far out as Southport and Manchester. Yet you can’t help but feel that the epicentre, the pinnacle, of Liverpool’s enduring character is the cathedral itself. The fifth largest cathedral in the world casts an imposing shadow over Liverpool; the vast scale of it genuinely inspires a sense of wonder before God. Yet the striking edifice has only been complete for thirty-two years after seventy-four years of painstaking work. Some spent their entire working lives on it, never seeing its final completion. The cathedral is a giant metaphor for the happy-go-lucky, better than the rest of England cocksure attitude of your average amiable scouser. Its refusal to accept that London is the best place for everything is embodied in the cathedral which looks down on its smaller cousin; Westminster Abbey.
Religious or atheist, architecture enthusiast or architecture objector, there is something about the vast endless heights of the main chamber that makes you feel remarkably insignificant. One visitor said: “It’s the only cathedral I’ve ever visited that I could actually imagine is big enough to fit God in.”
The nauseating experience of being rattled up the lift into the bell chamber then having to climb 153 stairs to the top of the tower all the while conscious of the terrifying drop over the stair rail down into the bell chamber below is exhilarating and gives some you some inkling of how complex a structure it must have been to build.
Despite the foreboding gothic design of the building it has a very inviting modern feel to it, at one end of the main chamber a message written in stylish pink neon lights proclaims ‘I Felt You And I Knew You Loved Me.’ The building is no stranger to ‘unholy’ modern events either. On my visit a band was in full flow beneath the neon sign, drums beating loudly, electric guitars wailing and disco lights darting about the cavernous ceiling, all that was missing was a group of energetic teenagers whipping their hair back and forth with to the beat. Displays of modern art are common here too; the building also occasionally serves as the venue of choice for hosting university open days. At the other end of the cathedral is the altar, a mind boggling array of intrinsically ornate gold covered carvings rise heavenwards from the floor. Unlike many cathedrals it is a truly valuable community asset, serving primarily as a place for people to come and worship but also as a showroom, a stage, an auditorium and a national treasure.