St. George's Church Everton was built in 1814 and was the first church building in the world to be constructed substantially from cast iron. Its architect was Thomas Rickman and the cast iron came from the foundry of John Cragg. The church became known as "The Iron Church" and, situated as it is on the top of Everton Hill (the site of the original Everton Fire Beacon, built about 1220), it is clearly visible from miles around and provides excellent views over the North End of Liverpool and out beyond the River Mersey to the Wirral and North Wales.

The design of the church had been discussed at a first meeting on 29th December 1812 at Halliday's Coffee House in Everton Village. The architect Thomas Rickman (1776 - 1841) attended the meeting. He had come to Liverpool from the south in 1807. He became friendly with John Cragg (1767 - 1854), ironmaster and proprietor of the Mersey Iron Foundry, who was 'fanatical about the use of cast iron'. The two continued what appears to have been a sometimes uneasy collaboration in the design and building of St. George's. The outer shell of the church was built in stone - '...the said Church and the Walls of the Cemetery of the same shall be built of Stone...' (see 1813 Act) but the interior was '...entirely in cast iron. Prefabricated columns, vaulting ribs, panels and window tracery were all transported from Cragg's foundry and bolted together inside the church' influenced in design by 'Rickman's meticulous analysis of Gothic architecture'. It was the first of Liverpool's 'iron churches'. (source)

The church is 119 t. long and 47 ft. wide. The tower is 96 ft. high. Its original "chair frame" bell, by Ainsworth of Warrington, was restored in 1937 by George Eccles but was vandalised in the late 1960s. The Smiths of Clerkenwell Clock was duly installed in St. George's tower in 1973.

I took this photo in 1973, looking up Havelock Street to St. George's Church from Netherfield Road North. The buildings on the right are those of the John Bagot Hospital. Havelock Street, like several streets between Northumberland Terrace and Netherfield Road North was amazingly steep - possibly the steepest street in Liverpool - and had a handrail up its entire length, as can be seen in the photo.

During this period many of the terraced streets around St. George's were cleared away during the slum clearance programme of the time and I was able to purchase the cast iron street signs for Havelock Street and Netherfield Road North, removed from the lodge to the John Bagot Hospital at the foot of Havelock Street.

Neville Black, who was Vicar of St. George's at the time now has the Havelock Street sign, having been presented with it by me when he left Everton. I still proudly possess the Netherfield Road North street sign.

Two more shots of St. George's, taken in 1973, during extensive demolition of nearby streets.

Links

• Pevsner Architectural Guide: Looking at Buildings
• Some great pics of St. George's at Liverpool Pictorial

Page created 6 February 2005
Last Update 19 February 2005

Copyright © Dave Evans 2005
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