Walker Art Gallery

Opened 1877
Grade II*

The citizens of Liverpool invested their private wealth and art collections to create the gallery reflecting the rise in interest in public art, which was considered an essential element in late Victorian city culture. 

It was designed by architects Sherlock and Vale and named after its principal benefactor, Alderman Andrew Barclay Walker, at that time Lord Mayor of Liverpool. 

The site selected on William Brown Street was above that of the museum and library. An extension had already been planned for the latter at the point where the street's axis turns and alignment of the new art gallery reflects this change. 

A classical portico is the centrepiece of the exterior, which includes friezes of scenes from the city's history, and is surmounted by a personification of Liverpool (now a replica; the original is in the nearby Conservation Centre) holding a trident and a ship's propeller. 

It became clear almost at once that the original building would need to be expanded. Sherlock was invited to design additional galleries - six were added - together with storage accommodation. 

The extension at the rear, again paid for by Sir Andrew Barclay Walker (knighted for his generosity), was complete by 1884, and the building was extended again in 1931-33 by Sir Arnold Thornley. 

The recently restored classical interior houses one of Britain's greatest art collections.