Wavertree Town Hall

Still standing on the corner of Hills Place, look across the High Street towards the Town Hall. Wavertree Town Hall was built in 1872 as the headquarters of the Wavertree Local Board of Health. This was the body responsible for paving, lighting and cleaning the streets, providing sewers, and emptying middens in those parts of the Township where sewers had not been laid. It was formed in 1851 as the successor to the old Select Vestry, and comprised members elected by the ratepayers in the various districts of the Township.

The Town Hall was designed by a local architect: John Elliot Reeve, who lived in Sandown Lane. At the front were the offices of the Board, while at the back was a large ballroom together with the Board's stables and yard.

Wavertree was absorbed by the City of Liverpool in 1895 - along with the nearby Townships of West Derby and Walton - and the Town Hall served as a local rates collection and Registry Office for many years after the takeover. Then in 1979 - after a period of disuse which almost resulted in the building's demolition - the Town Hall was purchased by Mr Eric Rooke, a local businessman, who refurbished it as a public house, restaurant and functions suite and allowed the Wavertree Society to meet there on a regular basis.

Now walk down the High Street. As you pass the Town Hall, notice the decorative features of Reeve's typically Victorian design. Above the entrance is the Local Board's crest. The motto Sub Umbra Floresco means 'I flourish in the shade', almost certainly a reference to Wavertree's proud independence from neighbouring Liverpool.

The above is an extract from 'DISCOVERING HISTORIC WAVERTREE',
published by THE WAVERTREE SOCIETY
. © Mike Chitty 1999.
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Page created by MRC 26 February 2000.