Summary
The Roman Catholic Cathedral for the Archdiocese of Liverpool. The crypt was built in 1933 to 1941 to designs by Sir Edwin Lutyens but the rest of his cathedral was unbuilt. A competition for a new cathedral to stand above the crypt was held in 1959 to 1960, and won by Frederick Gibberd. The cathedral was constructed in 1962 to 1967 to designs by Frederick Gibberd and Partners.
Reasons for Designation
Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, with a crypt of 1933 to 1941 to designs by Sir Edwin Lutyens, and cathedral of 1962 to 1967 to designs by Frederick Gibberd & Partners, is listed at Grade I for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* it successfully unifies the visions of two pre-eminent British architects in the spatially intricate, classical design of Sir Edwin Lutyens’ crypt and the sculptural modernist design of the raised cathedral by Frederick Gibberd, a leading proponent of Modern architecture in Britain;
* as the first cathedral in Britain to have an innovative centralised plan, placing the Eucharist spatially and spiritually at the centre of worship, as encouraged by the Liturgical Movement and formalised by the contemporaneous Second Vatican Council (1962-1965);
* the radical design of the post-war cathedral was realised through the use of modern materials, notably concrete, and great structural engineering skills to produce a breathtaking space with the central sanctuary lit by the internally unsupported roof lantern above;
* works of art of the highest order by notable designers and artists are an intrinsic part of the building’s fabric; the crowning glory being the dalle de verre glass lantern by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens, with all component pieces contributing to the artistic quality of the whole;
* the elevated cathedral forms a major landmark in Liverpool and is a striking response to the Anglican Cathedral; the two situated in close proximity at either end of Hope Street and forming a highly important part of Liverpool’s skyline and visual identity.
Historic interest:
* the built fabric of the crypt forms a tangible reminder of Lutyens’ unrealised monumental design for a massive new Roman Catholic cathedral for Liverpool, which he considered would have been his greatest achievement;
* the new cathedral was the greatest Roman Catholic post-war architectural commission in Britain and an international example of the progressive architecture of the Roman Catholic Church at this time.
Group value:
* the cathedral has group value with Cathedral House and the former convent of Christ the King, designed as subsidiary components by Frederick Gibberd and Partners to respectfully respect the supremacy of the main building.
History
A Catholic cathedral for Liverpool was first proposed, though not built, in the 1850s following the Emancipation Act of 1829 and in response to the rapid expansion of the Catholic population in north-west England. Liverpool became an Archdiocese in 1911 and in 1930 Archbishop Richard Downey purchased the old parish workhouse site overlooking the city on Brownlow Hill as the site for a cathedral.
Downey commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens, whose designs for a massive classical cathedral, second only in size to St Peter’s in Rome, were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1932. The design was longitudinal but compact with a narthex, short nave, double aisles, transepts with angle chapels and double aisles, a dome of a 168ft (51m) diameter and rising to 510ft (155m) externally, and a short chancel with an apse flanked by large apsed chapels and sacristies, with a circular chapter house behind. It was not orientated liturgically and the ritual east end was to face compass north. The materials were to be buff bricks and Irish grey granite dressings. The inventive design incorporated Lutyens’ three-dimensional triumphal arch motif used for his Memorial of the Missing of the Somme at Thiepval and features of his domed Viceroy’s House in New Delhi. It was described by architectural historian John Summerson as “perhaps …the latest and supreme attempt to embrace Rome, Byzantium, the Romanesque and the Renaissance in one triumphal and triumphant synthesis”. Work began on the crypt in 1933, but it was still uncompleted at the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1940, an application was made to the authorities to continue building, but this was unsuccessful and work stopped in 1941. Standing partly above and partly below ground, the grey granite exterior walls were intended to form a plinth for the cathedral walls, with the crypt entrance from a sunken court on the east (ritual south) side. After Lutyens’ death in 1944 it became clear that the cathedral was unlikely to be completed as planned, with estimated costs rising dramatically from £3 million to £27 million. Following Archbishop Downey’s death in 1953, Adrian Gilbert Scott was appointed, publishing a scaled-down version in 1955, which was not pursued. Finally in 1959, soon after the appointment of a new Archbishop, John Heenan, the decision was made to hold an international competition for the design of a new cathedral to seat 3,000 (later reduced to 2,000). Archbishop Heenan sent a letter to competitors impressing upon them the primary importance of the high altar, saying “the trend of the liturgy is to associate the congregation ever more closely with the celebrant of the Mass … The attention of all who enter should be arrested and held by the altar”. The Lutyens’ crypt also needed to be incorporated into the design.
The winner was Frederick Gibberd whose circular plan with central altar clearly fulfilled the brief. He also cleverly incorporated Lutyens’ crypt by transforming the crypt roof into an elevated piazza, with external steps and pyramidal caps to Lutyens' corner staircases, and extending this level platform across the rest of the site to form a podium with the raised cathedral standing high at the south end. The cylindrical lantern tower topped by a crown of pinnacles responds to the tower of the Anglican Cathedral (Giles Gilbert Scott), the two lying on a Hope Street axis and both rising dramatically above the Liverpool streetscape. The flying buttresses, which continued the exposed roof ribs down to the ground, were not part of Gibberd’s original design, but were suggested by the engineer James Lowe. An axis from the main entrance through the wedge-shaped bell tower passed through to the large Blessed Sacrament chapel, intended to link the two spaces, with another cross-axis through the side entrances. William Mitchell, a leading artist in the post-war public realm, designed the relief carving on the bell tower and pioneered the use of bronze-faced, glass reinforced plastic (GRP) here as a cheaper and lighter alternative to bronze for the main entrance doors, representing the symbols of the Evangelists, and the side entrances.
The interior also contained many fixtures and fittings of note by leading artists, craftspeople and sculptors.
A 1990s campaign of repairs replaced the original off-white mosaic tiles facing the flying buttresses with mottled grey glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and the aluminium originally covering the conical roof was replaced in stainless steel.
Gibberd had intended a ceremonial approach from Hope Street, but a pre-existing building on Mount Pleasant prevented this. Eventually in 2003 Falconer Chester designed a broad, axial flight of steps rising from a new square at pavement level.
Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) was one of the foremost British architects of the late-C19 and early-C20, designing many country houses in the Arts and Crafts style before moving to an imaginative classicism and a wider range of building types. He was appointed one of the chief architects, with Sir Herbert Baker, for the planning of the new Indian capital of New Delhi between 1912 and 1930, designing India Gate and the Viceroy’s House (now known as Rashtrapati Bhavan), which incorporated Mughal and Hindu elements around a central dome. He was knighted in 1918 for his work at Delhi and for his work with the Imperial War Graves Commission, his memorials having an abstracted monumental classicism. His later designs included the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral commission, which he thought would have been his greatest achievement.
(Sir) Frederick Gibberd (1908-1984) was an architect, town planner and landscape architect, who was influenced by the European International Style and became one of the architects who fathered the emergence of Modern architecture in Britain. He made major contributions as an architect-planner to post-1945 reconstruction and civic design, notably Harlow New Town, and designed many significant post-war buildings, including the first terminal buildings at Heathrow airport and power stations at Hinkley Point and Didcot, as well as landscaping several new reservoirs. He won major architectural competitions both for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and the London Central Mosque in Regents Park. Gibberd was knighted in 1967.
Details
Roman Catholic Cathedral. Crypt built in 1933 to 1941 to designs by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Competition for new cathedral held in 1959 to 1960 won by Frederick Gibberd. Cathedral constructed in 1962 to 1967 to designs by Frederick Gibberd and Partners.
MATERIALS: the crypt is built of brick with an Irish grey granite facing. The cathedral has an exposed concrete frame with GRP cladding (replacing the original mosaic cladding), walls clad in Portland stone, and roof covered in stainless steel sheets (replacing the original aluminium sheets).
PLAN: the cathedral is circular with a central sanctuary and high altar surrounded by twelve outer chapels and a baptistry, the main entrance and two side entrances. The main entrance is approached through a wedge-shaped bell tower. The cathedral is raised on a rectangular podium, the north end formed by the roof of Lutyens crypt with the outer-corner staircases with pyramidal tops (added by Gibberd) flanking a central external staircase. An outdoor altar is set against the ritual east end of the cathedral. A wide flight of steps leads up to the bell tower and main ritual west entrance, with flights of steps to both sides also. The podium contains a car park, sacristies and other offices and ancillary rooms, and is linked internally with both the cathedral and crypt.
The cathedral is not liturgically aligned with the ritual east end relating to the compass north point. Ritual liturgical points are used in the description.
CRYPT (1933-1941)
EXTERIOR: the crypt has granite façades with a recessed moulded cornice and entablature with a moulded cornice, and entrances to the ritual east, south and north sides. The main entrances are on the ritual south side. The symmetrical elevation has a huge central round-headed window with mullions and transoms and a giant, T-shaped keystone. It is flanked by two doorways with Tuscan aedicules with open pediments and outer round-headed windows with small, square windows over. To the left and right are projecting side walls partly enclosing a sunken court. The left side wall has a central, round-headed gateway, then steps out slightly before continuing. Through the gateway there is a small, enclosed courtyard with a round-headed window with a roundel window over to the main crypt elevation. The right wall has a central, round-headed niche and the right-hand end steps out a short distance, the brick visible behind the granite facing. To the right of the side wall the main elevation steps back at ground-floor level and is blind to the right-hand corner with a pyramidal cap above over the corner staircase. The ritual north side is similar, without the sunken court side walls. At the left-hand end is the stepped back blind wall of the corner staircase with pyramidal cap over. At the right-hand end is a round-headed window with a roundel window over. Beyond the wall projects out a short distance, the brick visible behind the granite facing.
The ritual east end has five lunettes flanked by a raised round-headed doorway with a flight of steps at each end and the stepped-back blind walls of the corner staircases with pyramidal caps over. Above the central lunette is a wide T-shaped flight of steps up to the podium.
INTERIOR: the interior is built of exposed blue bricks with red brick vaults and granite dressings. The ritual south entrances open into the Chapel of St Nicholas with a nave and aisles terminating in three apses. On the ritual north side is an identical space (now the Concert Room) and on the central axis between are two great circular chambers flanked by two immense vaulted halls running across the crypt. That to the ritual east side has a flight of stairs at each end cantilevered around a circular well, each flight starting with convex steps and ending with concave steps. The ritual west hall (Pontifical Hall) has groups of columns at each end and opening off its west side is the Chapel of Relics – the burial place of Archbishops – (located directly under the position for Lutyens' high altar). The entrance gate is a circular, pierced slab of Travertine that rolls open and shut. The chapel is faced with marble and Travertine and has three tomb recesses with Doric aedicules supporting sculpted sarcophagi enclosed by deep semi-circular arches.
CATHEDRAL (1962-1967)
EXTERIOR: the cathedral has an exposed concrete frame, clad with grey GRP over the mosaic cladding, with sixteen boomerang-shaped trusses rising vertically from the podium to an eaves ring beam and then slanting inwards to support the conical roof of the central space with an upper ring beam at the base of the tapered drum of the coloured glass and concrete lantern tower. Outer raking ribs form flying buttresses continuing the diagonal line of the roof between the lower ring beam and ground. The lantern tower is topped by a crown of sixteen tall steel pinnacles braced by a delicate web of stainless steel struts. Within each bay of the frame, except the front and side entrances, is set a stone clad chapel which vary in shape with squared corners and rounded corners and have different window arrangements. They are separated from the frame by strips of coloured glass. The front bay (ritual west end) has a great wedge-shaped bell tower which rises away from the body of the cathedral to form a cliff-like façade closing the view north along Hope Street. The main doors at the base have huge sliding doors of bronzed GRP featuring the symbols of the Evangelists, with four bells hung in openings at the apex of the tower and a huge triangular panel to the stone surface between carved with an angular, geometric relief design by William Mitchell incorporating three crosses and three crowns. The side porches also have abstract bronzed GRP doors by William Mitchell. On the ritual east side is a raised, external concrete altar overlooking the podium with a concrete canopy and grey mosaic tesserae reredos with an attached large timber cross. The part of the podium on which the cathedral stands is faced in grey aggregate panels with chamfered, grey concrete coping.
INTERIOR: the interior contains various fixtures and fittings of note, including those mentioned below.
The ritual west entrance leads through a low porch framed by a strip of yellow glass directly into the nave and sanctuary lit by the luminous central lantern of abstract dalle de verre yellow, blue and red coloured glass symbolizing the Trinity by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens; the individual pieces of one inch-thick glass are bonded in epoxy resin with long threads of strengthening fibreglass (visible as a network of fine black lines) fitted in pre-cast tracery panels of thin concrete ribs, a pioneering technique invented for use in the lantern. The west entrance forms a primary axis with the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and the organ by J W Walker and Sons placed over on the ritual east side, with a secondary access between the side porches, which are surmounted by tribunes. The geometrical floor pattern in grey and white marble is designed by David Atkins. A curved ramp provides a processional route leading up to the nave from the sacristies below. The sanctuary has a high altar of white marble from Skopje, North Macedonia, with a crown-like baldacchino of aluminium rods incorporating lights by Gibberd, crucifix of pale gilt bronze by Elisabeth Frink, and altar cross and candlesticks by P Y Goodden. The nave has curved benches by Frank Height.
The surrounding chapels are framed by Piper and Reyntiens’ coloured glass and they designed the glass in several chapels. The cast and welded metal Stations of the Cross are by Sean Rice.
The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament has stained glass, reredos and tabernacle by Ceri Richards.
The Lady Chapel has sanctuary walls that meet at right angles and a deeply coffered ceiling. It has a terracotta Virgin and Child sculpture by Robert Brumby, coloured glass strips by Margaret Traherne, and cross and candlesticks by David Mellor working with Elisabeth Frink.
Margaret Traherne also designed the glass in the Unity Chapel. The chapel contains a Pentecost mosaic panel by George Mayer-Marton moved to the Cathedral in 1988 (originally in Church of the Holy Ghost, Netherton, dem 1989).
The small square windows in the Chapel of St Columba are by David Atkins.
David Atkins also designed the bronze gates and geometric floor of the circular Baptistry. The central, circular font is of white marble also from Skopje.
