Municipal Buildings, Dale Street

Dale Street

Dale Street Liverpool, England is a street in the Commercial Centre conservation area. The street together with Castle Street, Old Hall Street, Victoria Street and Water Street are the main commercial streets and occupy area of the medieval town of Liverpool...

, Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, was built by the town council to accommodate the growing number of administrative staff. It was started in 1860 by John Weightman, and finished by E.R. Robson in 1866. It is still in use today and is the main site for public access to the council.

The design of the building was influenced by both Italian

Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...

 and French Renaissance

French Renaissance

French Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century...

. Around the balcony are sixteen sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

 figures representing the arts, sciences and industries of Liverpool. In the centre of the building is the tower, with its balconies, clocks and five bells. The four quarter bells are hung for English-style Change Ringing

Change ringing

Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody....

. A pyramidal spire is situated atop the tower.

External links

• http://www.liverpoolworldheritage.com/castlestreet.asp
• Picture
• http://www.walkingbook.co.uk/liverpool/#castle