The Bombed-Out Church of St Luke’s, Liverpool

I’ve always wanted to visit the bombed-out Church of St Luke’s in Liverpool but it was pouring with rain every time I went. Added to that, it wasn’t always possible to get inside due to closures or scaffolding. Our time finally came this year when Stephen and I found ourselves with an hour to spare before we met my cousin at Lime Street Station.

The entry fee is just £2 each but the site is so well maintained and the staff so friendly that you’ll probably want to donate a little more. Once inside, I took a deep breath, thrilled to finally be inside the place that has been on my wish list for over 20 years.

A Haunting Reminder of Liverpool’s wartime scars

My dad was born in 1945 but he grew up with stories of how Liverpool was devastated during the Blitz, stories which he then passed on to me. St Luke’s was bombed during the Blitz of 1941 and the church was never rebuilt, with the city choosing instead to preserve it as a solemn memorial to the lives lost during the Second World War.

An Oasis of Calm in the City

Like London’s St Dunstan-in-the-East (also known as My Favourite Place in the Whole of London), St Luke’s Church is a place of peace and reflection in the heart of the big city, sitting at the top of Bold Street where we later enjoyed brunch at Bamboo. Standing within those walls, I could just hear the whispers of the past above the distant sounds of traffic and revelry.

Over 100 Years of Service to Liverpool

The story of St Luke’s goes back to 1791 when the land was donated to the town of Liverpool by the Earl of Derby, on the condition that a church be built there. After legal disputes and a delay in beginning construction, the church was built and finally consecrated in 1831. It served the city for over 100 years before that fateful day when, just after midnight on 6 May 1941, the church was struck by an incendiary bomb.

The church’s clock stopped at 3.36am

Gothic Grandeur Amidst the Ruins

Even though it stands in ruin, you can still appreciate the impressive architecture of St Luke’s with its tall Gothic arches, delicately carved stone and imposing tower. It is a testament to the church’s construction that the tower still stands. Stephen pointed out to me that you can still see traces of the fire that ascended the tower on that dark night, causing several of its bells to fall to the ground.

By the dawn of the following day, as the fires died down and the smoke cleared, all that would remain of St Luke’s was its masonry shell while the roof and interior were almost completed obliterated.

Art Installations at St Luke’s Church

Pictured at the very top of this post is the ‘All Together Now’ statue by Andy Edwards, also known as ‘The Truce Statue’. It commemorates the 1914 Christmas Truce, when British and German soldiers laid down arms to share a moment of peace which included shaking hands, sharing food, singing carols and playing a game of football in No-Man’s Land.

The statue depicts two men shaking hands with a football on the ground between them. They are standing in a field of poppies from the ‘Poppy Garden Project 2024’, a project where over 1000 poppy flowers were made by local school children using upcycled plastic bottles which they then attached to bamboo flower sticks.

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