Last Saturday (14th September) marked two hundred and seventy-five years since the foundation stone of the Liverpool Town Hall was laid. In this blog City Halls Guide James O’Keeffe, shares information about the events that took place to commemorate this and the opening of the Town Hall five years later.
A ceremony was performed by the Mayor, Joseph Clegg along with members of the Common Council. They were dressed in gowns and were attended by borough officials bearing the civic regalia and walking in procession, were accompanied by music.
After walking from the existing Town Hall (which was located in front of our present building) the Mayor struck down and laid the foundation stone on the south east corner of the site and gave the workmen of the building money.
After the foundation stone-laying ceremony was completed, the Mayor and his party returned to the Town Hall and were entertained with wine and cake. No evidence exists to confirm whether the cakes were from a staff bake off contest but it’s possible!
Liverpool historian James Allanson Picton noted in his book Memorials of Liverpool, Vol. II that unusually there was no Latin or Hebrew inscription included on the foundation stone but there were the names of the Mayor, town recorder, bailiffs and the architect, John Wood of Bath.
The Town Hall was opened in 1754 and for a whole week there were festivities in Liverpool with public breakfasts, boat-races during the day and public balls and concerts every evening.
In 1953, to commemorate the bi-centenary of the death of the architect John Wood (which coincided with the bi-centenary of the opening of the Town Hall), the City of Bath gave Liverpool the civic gift of a plaque for the building in honour of him. It can be seen on the south-east side of the exterior of the Town Hall, close to where the foundation stone was laid.
