This gorgeous Grade II Listed building has been standing as The Wedding House now for almost 18 years. However, this building has been many things over the years and is the only building still standing from what was a very busy part of Liverpool.
Features
It is constructed in stone in Gothic Revival style, and has a slate roof. It has three storeys with a basement and attic, and has a front of four bays under a pointed gable. The windows have pointed arches, and some are mullioned and transomed. Evidence shows that it once had a balcony on the front of the building, which was later removed. Decoration on the front includes a frieze, and tympana containing the shields of England, Wales, Liverpool, and Ireland, and a central shield with the initials NSWB. This stands for North and South Wales Bank.
History
This building was first built in the 1860's as The North and South Wales Bank. It later became the Midland Bank in 1908, which it remained to be until 1980. This building became listed in 1975. After closing as a bank, the building re-opened in 1991 as a furniture shop called Monarch Furniture. In 2003, this iconic building became The Wedding House.
This is an image of Great George Place in 1910. The Wedding House is the taller building just to the left of the centre. You can see how busy this area was, with all the adjoining buildings now gone.
The Wedding House (then; Midland Bank) is the building in the middle far distance of the photograph. The building on the left of the image is the David Lewis Hostel which was built in 1906. This had sports facilities and a theatre and cinema, which could hold up to 1000 people. This was such an iconic and grand building, however it was later demolished in 1980 due to plans to widen the road. A whole row of buildings which fronted Great George street were also demolished around the same time, this included the Lord Nelson pub which was attached to The Wedding House on the right hand side. The front of the building was then grassed over.
This photograph was taken of Great George Place in 1906. When the Wedding House was the Midland Bank, the bank occupied the ground floor and the basement of the building and the further 3 floors upstairs were living quarters. The building in the middle of the image was a public weighbridge which is where goods were weighed from the local business' before they could be exported. On the left of the weighbridge stood public toilets.
This is what The Wedding House looks like today. Even though this building now stands alone, it certainly hasn't lost any character! If anyone has any information to add, please leave a comment below, we would love to hear if you have any memories/information from this area!
Great George Place is due to be transformed in the next four years, with developments starting in January, we will have a blog coming soon about the new Great George Street developments!