00:00The base for all civic matters and home to the Lord Mayor of Liverpool.
00:06At the head of Castle Street stands Liverpool Town Hall.
00:10Amidst the surrounding grandeur of exchanged flags, it's impossible to ignore the sheer
00:14splendour of this building.
00:17Built in 1749, the Grade I listed Civic Building is not short of character and characters.
00:24From golden pineapples to a goddess of wisdom, the hall has hosted countless prestigious
00:29events including numerous Freedom of the City ceremonies, royal visits from home and
00:34abroad and an iconic homecoming for the Beatles on the front balcony.
00:40If you want to get inside, it is periodically opened up for guided tours, allowing visitors
00:45an exclusive opportunity to explore one of the finest surviving town halls of the 18th
00:50century.
00:51Liverpool City Council meets in the council chambers to conduct the business of the city,
00:55though the offices and their departments are based in the nearby Cunard Building.
01:00A popular film location, thanks to shoots arranged by Liverpool Film Office, from classics
01:06like Chariots of Fire to blockbuster Jack Ryan, its majestic backdrop makes an impressive
01:12setting.
01:13A masterful example of Georgian architecture, fortunes were made by Liverpool's shipping
01:18merchants relating to the slave trade.
01:21In the decorative frieze, Liverpool and the town hall found even greater prosperity as
01:26a port in the years following its abolition.
01:29The interior walls are decorated with murals created in 1909, showing scenes of the city's
01:35history from King John creating Liverpool as a free port to Liverpool as a centre of
01:40culture, commerce, education and progress.
01:43Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and protector of cities, has been the crown of the hall
01:49since 1799 and has protected it for centuries, surviving decades of pollution as well as
01:56the Blitz.
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