Liverpool’s Catholic Cathedral: A Visit to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King

At the other end of Hope Street is the modernist riposte to the Anglican Cathedral’s Gothic Revivalism

In my hometown, there is a little ditty often sung: “In My Liverpool Home,” in which we sing “… if you want a cathedral we’ve got one to spare, in my Liverpool Home…” Crucially, the song doesn’t state which is the spare, so both Catholic and Protestant wings of the community can enjoy singing the song, usually after a few pints in the famous Philharmonic pub!

I’ve shared photographs of the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral in other posts, so I thought it high time I acknowledged the unique modernist cathedral. I now live some 40 miles from my hometown and after many decades of only occasional visits, I now go there regularly. The photographs that I am sharing here come from a couple of visits.

So, lets start with the Crypt. This “base” or platform upon which the modernist structure sits was the first part of a grand cathedral plan to be built to the original 1930 design by Sir Edwin Lutyens. This design would have been the second largest catholic cathedral in the world and the traditional dome would have been larger than St. Peter’s in Rome. The restored architectural model of this ambitious plan now resides in the Museum of Liverpool where I photographed it last year.

A rather famous gentleman from Liverpool — John Lennon — once said “Life is what happens when you are making other plans” and in the saga of the Catholic Cathedral for Liverpool it was life and world history that blighted this project. The work was financed by the subscriptions from the large community of Irish Catholic workers in Liverpool — hardly the wealthiest of sources — and the project limped along until it ceased in 1941 due to the Second World War. In 1956 work resumed and the Crypt was finally completed in 1958. The projected cost of the actual cathedral above was then reckoned to be £27million (eq to around £1.25Billion today) and the project abandoned.

The Crypt itself is like a subterranean world in itself. There are function rooms, a chapel for services, a Treasury for the robes and artefacts and an inner crypt where three archbishops of Liverpool are interred. The Crypt was to have carried the weight of the original cathedral design and it is full of strong brick pillars and archways. It is a fascinating place.

Lets take the modern-day lift up from the Crypt into the main cathedral.

Back in 1959 there was a competition to design a new (and very much cheaper!) Catholic Cathedral to sit upon the Crypt. The winner was Sir Frederick Gibberd’s conical design topped by a tower that sits over the central alter within. Below the tower with its impressive glass and above the alter is a crown of thorns.

The concept here is that 2000 people can sit around the central alter and be more closely involved in the proceedings. Several smaller chapels project out from this large central space and these are used for smaller meetings and indeed for funerals as I saw on one of my visits.

My last visit to the cathedral was two weeks’ ago and I found it largely deserted, between events. It was lovely to gently stroll around and have the time to admire the additional chapels pictured above. I lit a candle to my Aunt Ruth who I wish I had done more with: we never realise the worth of many until they are gone I guess?

To complete my story of this place I should report that the building that was built at speed in the early 1960’s and opened in 1967 quickly developed faults. It has now undergone repairs and refurbishments over the past 50 years and is now truly worth the Grade One preservation status that was bestowed upon the entire site of crypt and cathedral in 2025.

Anyway, it was time to leave but if you ever visit Liverpool then both cathedrals are worthy of your time. Outside the weather had moved towards thunderstorms in the breakdown of our latest heatwave. There was time for a last exterior shot before I headed off home. Thank you for taking the time to read my article and I hope that you enjoyed my photographs. Please let me know!

All photographs in this article are by myself, Stephen Ellis Bell. The cameras include my iPhone Pro Max; Fugifilm X-T20; Sony A7r mk4.

Stephen Ellis Bell MA(ed) BA(hons) Fine Art & Sculpture PGCE