Historic Liverpool buildings in 'perilous state' warns conservation society

A pair of historic buildings in Liverpool feature amongst the Victorian Society’s Top Ten Endangered Buildings list for 2024, as the group warns ‘urgent repair’ is required to ensure their survival.

The list is based on public nominations from across England and Wales, and the buildings selected represent industrial, religious, domestic, and civic architecture from across the nation with unique historical and community significance and value. Each building is be dated between 1837 and 1914.

The Victorian Society says Liverpool’s St Agnes’ Vicarage and Hall are in a ‘perilous state’ and require ‘immediate’ remediation works. The unique Grade II* listed vicarage and Grade II listed hall were designed by Norman Shaw in the 1880s, to accompany the Grade I listed church of St Agnes and St Pancras.

Described by the conservation group as ‘one of the most impressive ensembles in the country,’ the additional structures and church were commissioned by the Horsfall family, which funded seven churches across Merseyside; and the vicarage and hall were built in the same Sefton Park street as the benefactors lived - Buckingham Street.

Sadly, the vicarage and hall are now in a ‘very poor state of repair’ and the Victorian Society say ‘a strategy for their sympathetic reuse is vital’. The condition of the hall is described as ‘especially concerning’ and both buildings ‘require immediate works of remediation’.

James Hughes, Director of the Victorian Society, explained: “It is unbelievable that buildings of the quality and interest of the hall and vicarage should have been allowed to fall into such a serious state of dilapidation. Works to make the buildings wind and watertight are required immediately, and in the longer term a solution that will see them saved and put to appropriate use.”

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Liverpool, which owns the buildings, said: "We would like to reassure people that we are looking for a solution that can keep this historic building in sympathy with the church and the local community.”