Entrance to the Mersey Tunnel

1925 - 1934
Grade II

Sir Basil Mott and J. A. Brodie engineered the tunnel, over two miles long, under the River Mersey between Liverpool and Birkenhead but the entrances and associated ventilation shafts, prodigious structures in themselves, were designed by Herbert J. Rowse architect of several of the City's elegant inter-war office buildings. 

The large and dignified scale of the tunnel portal and its associated structures are by no means out of place in relation to the rest of the area. 

Rowse's distinctive stripped Classical style is best seen in the two lodges to left and right of the sweeping entrance retaining walls. 

These resemble triumphal arches with fluted columns whose bases, capitals and entablatures have been reduced to bass relief, which draw on stylised representations of the River Mersey. 

Wavy lines also occur as part of the cornice of the entrance retaining walls and above the tunnel opening. A shield over the portal itself includes a winged wheel and a pair of winged bulls, symbolising swift and heavy traffic. All are in white Portland stone. 

Four tollbooths were originally set in a half semi-circle around the tunnel entrance. These were arranged to allow vehicles to pause between them before entering the tunnel. 

The other half semi-circle was free of booths for exiting traffic, which would have already paid on the Birkenhead side. The tunnel no longer requires its tollbooths but one has been preserved, set aside from the reordered traffic routes, which now lead into the tunnel. 

It demonstrates Rowse's attention to detail: fluting and river, and speed motifs abound, the whole painted a fresh emerald green, the colour chosen for all metal structures associated with the Mersey Tunnel. 

The bronze statues, by Sir W. Goscombe John, of King George's V and Queen Mary, who opened the tunnel were repositioned one on either side of the retaining walls, their original location, facing Dale Street, having been obscured by a controversial modern fly-over.