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Classical Architecture Tours of Southport

This is a blog post about my tours I did on September 15th 2023. 

Molly reaching the end of the tour
First things first, I would like to say a huge thank you to all of those who were involved with the tours: Jemma, Andrea, Caroline, Mo and Karen). Another thanks to everyone who came! I had loads of fun rewriting my tour (and doing it!) We started at the Atkinson and finished at the Bold Hotel. We also had a fun time playing "Spot the Column", where we briefly discussed Classical architecture that wasn't a part of the tour.

My top 3 buildings:

1. The Atkinson

I think it has to be said, that the Atkinson is an incredible looking building, especially when it comes to classical features in the architecture. I would like to point out two things that I am a fan of. The first is the reference to Roman history, with a figure of Julius Caesar on the clocktower. The four figures of the clocktower refer to the four eras of history within Britain with King Caracatus (who was a leader of a tribe in Britain, who fought again the expansion of Rome), Julius Caesar (Roman general and dictator), Edward the Confessor (one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England), and King Alfred the Great (defender of England against the Vikings).  

The Atkinson clocktower

My second favourite thing is on the Library building. There are six squares (3 on the left and 3 on the right) that contain references to Greek culture. From left to right there are Homer (known for writing the epic poems the Odyssey and the Iliad), Thucydides (a historian of the Peloponnesian War), Aeschylus (writer of tragedian plays), Appeles (a famous painter), Phidias (sculptor of the chryselephantine statues of Zeus and Athene), and Ictinus (architect of the Parthenon).

Left squares
Right squares
2. HSBC Bank

The outside of the building has four massive, coupled Corinthian columns and pilasters (the appearance of a column, without the support and just for decoration). The building was designed in 1888 by a local architect, Ernest W Johnson.

There are two carvings on the front of the building with the Southport crest on the left-hand side and the Preston crest on the right-hand side. On the left is the original Southport town crest, with the Salus Populi motto (“the Health of the People”) and the lifeboat, representing one of the worst disasters of the town. On the opposite side is the Preston town crest (the lamb and flag), reflecting its origins as a branch of the Preston Bank. The lamb is the symbol of St Wilfrid, the patron saint of Preston, and P.P. is thought to be an abbreviation for Princeps Pacis (“Prince of Peace”).

The reason it is one of my favourites is because above the apex, is a seated statue. Back in college I believed it was Poseidon/Neptune. However, when you look closer, you can see breasts and a cornucopia, known as a horn of plenty, meaning this is actually Britannia, the personification of Britain. It is also one of the only Classical bank buildings on Lord Street which still retains its original function.  

3. The Monument
Inside the colonnade

There were 45 designs submitted for a competition for the best design of the monument which were exhibited in the Atkinson Art Gallery on December 18th 1919. It was announced that the winners were Grayson and Barnish, a firm of architects based in the Liver Building, who had submitted a design based on two colonnades and an obelisk, all carved from Portland Stone.  

The 18th November 1923 was the first time a service was held there. All of the children who lost their fathers to the war were given a pamphlet, explaining the architecture and their builders, along with a play-by-play of the ceremony itself. My great grandma received one of these books. My great-great-grandfather's name (James Marshall) is carved into the colonnade on the south side.

Inside the monument colonnades on both side are four altars. My favourite is on the north side. It is a scene from the story of the Trojan War. It depicts Achilles tending to the wounds of fellow soldier, and cousin, Patroclus.

Achilles altar

The Occulo Lounge

Within four years of the completion of the monument, by 1927, the two unremarkable corner buildings on the seaward side of London Square had both been replaced with buildings in the Classical style including another temple to banking, in Portland Stone, to match the Monument, but this time done in a rusticated fashion, so it looked the same age as the monument.

If you may have been counting, I have done my top three buildings, and you may be wondering why I have included this in this blog. In my tour, I said the date the building was established was 1927. One of the customers pointed out, another date was below: 1833. I had no clue as to what this date referred to, so I researched, and what I discovered was there was a completely different building there originally. 

So, before the building you see today, it used to be much smaller. Before it was a bank, it was a shop front owned by Mr Fogill and Craven. Unfortunately, that is all I have discovered so far, but I am doing more research as to what these shops contained. For now, all I can provide is the image below.

Fogill and Craven shopfronts, sometime before the building of the monument

There are bits of classical architecture all over Southport town centre. If you read this and enjoy it, look up. Look up at the beautiful buildings and see what you discover. Is it a name of the building in a fancy font? Columns by the windows?

Ionic columns in front of the Atkinson

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